PHILADELPHIA — Andy Pettitte grunted through six innings without his best stuff. Nick Swisher finally broke through. Alex Rodriguez’s first World Series hit was a clutch homer that needed a second look. And Joba Chamberlain and Damaso Marte took the load off Mariano Rivera.
All of that added up to an 8-5 Game 3 victory for the Yankees over the Phillies last night in front of 46,061 at Citizens Bank Park that put the Yankees in position to grab control of the Series tonight in Game 4.
The victory gave the Yankees a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven Series. The start of the game was delayed 80 minutes by rain.
Because Joe Girardi is using ace CC Sabathia on three days’ rest tonight against Joe Blanton, the Yankees are in position to cop a 3-1 lead.
Pettitte put the Yankees in a 3-0 ditch in the second when he gave up the first of Jayson Werth’s two homers, issued two walks and failed to communicate with Jorge Posada on Cole Hamels’ sacrifice bunt that turned into a hit.
“It was a battle tonight, I wasn’t able to get the breaking ball over,” said Pettitte, who allowed one hit to the final 17 batters he faced. “It was a grind tonight. I can’t remember winning a (postseason) game when I struggled like I did tonight.”
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Pettitte — who now has 17 postseason wins, adding to his record — went six innings, gave up four runs and five hits and received support from Swisher, Rodriguez and Hideki Matsui, who all homered, and Johnny Damon who added a two-run double. Pettitte helped himself with an RBI single off Hamels that tied the game, after Swisher snapped out of his funk with a double, and fueled a three-run fifth when the Yankees erased a 3-2 deficit.
Rodriguez, who was 0-for-8 with six strikeouts in the first two games, hit a two-run homer to right in the fourth off Hamels that originally was ruled a double. After four of the six umpires went to the video, it was ruled a homer and the Yankees trailed, 3-2.
“I think it was a big hit,” Rodriguez said of the homer that hit a television camera near the right-field foul pole and was the Yankees’ first hit. “I think it woke our offense up a little bit. It felt really good.”
Damon’s two-run double made it 5-3 in the fifth. Swisher homered with the bases empty in the sixth, Posada had an RBI single in the seventh and Matsui delivered a pinch-hit home run in the eighth.
After Pettitte left, Chamberlain and Marte retired six straight in the seventh and eighth. Armed with a four-run lead in the ninth, Joe Girardi brought in Phil Hughes instead of Mariano Rivera. Hughes retired the first batter, but when Carlos Ruiz homered, Girardi called for Rivera, who recorded the final two outs.
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According to Phillies manager Charlie Manuel, Pettitte was able to bounce back from a shaky beginning because he handled Chase Utley, Ryan Howard and Raul Ibanez, who went a combined 0-for-9 against Pettitte and fanned six times.
“The biggest thing for Pettitte was he closed off our left-handed hitters,” Manuel said. “He got our left-handed hitters out.”
Hamels didn’t allow a hit through three innings, but appeared to let a 3-2, fourth-inning pitch to Mark Teixeira that was called a ball bother him. Rodriguez followed with the homer and Hamels didn’t get out of the fifth.
In 4 1/3 innings, Hamels, last year’s World Series MVP, gave up five runs and five hits.
Because Girardi is going with Sabathia tonight and Manuel is saving ace Cliff Lee for tomorrow night’s Game 5, the Yankees have a big chance to grab the Series by the throat with a win after so many contributions from different people last night.
george.king@nypost.com