PHILADELPHIA — Cole Hamels was up to his old World Series tricks. Then

the left-hander turned into the kind of scary goblin Phillies fans have had to endure too often this season.

A Halloween nightmare for the reigning World Series most valuable player meant a big bag of treats for the New York Yankees, who wiped out a three-run deficit and went on to a 8-5 win over Philadelphia in a game that finished early this morning in Citizens Bank Park.

The contest started 80 minutes late due to a heavy downpour that pelted the red-clad crowd of 46,061 about an hour before the scheduled first pitch. It ended at 12:42 a.m., marking just the second time in history baseball has played a game in November.

The Yankees lead the best-of-seven series, two games to one. It continues tonight at 8:20 with Yankees ace CC Sabathia starting on three days rest against Philadelphia's Joe Blanton, who was a winner last year in Game Four against Tampa Bay.

Hamels couldn't hold a 3-0 lead as Alex Rodriguez's two-run home run in the fourth -- the first in postseason history awarded via instant replay -- kick-started the New York offense. Meanwhile, Yankees left-hander Andy Pettitte went six innings to extend his own postseason record with his 17th career win, allowing just two hits over his final four innings.

Pettitte completely outdueled Hamels, who gave up five runs on five hits and walked two in 4 1/3 innings. Hamels fell to 1-2 in the postseason and his ERA is 7.58. He was 4-0, 1.80 last October.

"We definitely got to see him a little bit more the second time [through the lineup]," said Johnny Damon, whose two-run double in the fifth snapped a 3-3 tie. "Our at-bats got better, his velocity went down ever so-slightly and we made him throw strikes. When you do that with our ballclub, you'll do some good things."

Pettitte even helped himself by blooping an RBI single in the fifth off Hamels which forged the tie that Damon broke. It was the first RBI in Series play by a Yankee pitcher since Jim Bouton collected one against St. Louis in Game Six of the 1964 Fall Classic.

"I'm not trying to hit a home run. I'm trying to slap a ball around," Pettitte said. "Fortunately I got one up in the zone. I was joking with the guys that I had a few World Series knocks [base hits] and now I've got an RBI too."

Hamels held the Yankees hitless through three innings, leaving the Bronx Bombers with just four runs and a .194 average over their first 21 at-bats in the series.

Rodriguez changed that with one swing.

His opposite-field drive to right with Mark Teixeira at first was initially ruled a double. But Yankees coaches told manager Joe Girardi they thought the ball struck a television camera just over the fence.

Girardi asked the umpires to look at a replay and the the video confirmed Girardi's request. The call was changed to a home run, A-Rod's first hit in Series play after he opened it 0 for 8.

"I think it was a big hit. I think it woke our offense up a little bit," said Rodriguez, who did not see where the ball had hit. "It felt really good. It was a little weird to have the first home run and the replay go the whole nine yards. But two big runs for us early on."

"Alex really got us going with that home run," Damon said. "Two quick runs with one swing and that's what our team is successful doing."

Hamels retired the next two men to get out of that inning but came unglued in the fifth. Nick Swisher, who was 4 for 36 in the postseason and mired in a 1-for-18 slump, led off with a double and scored one out later when Pettitte blooped a Hamels curveball to center for an RBI single

"That's four World Series hits for him," noted Damon. "He's got more than a lot of guys in here. We're very excited. He got his RBI before I did in the World Series. It makes you feel like you're no good or you better get a big hit of your own."

Hamels, as you would expect, was not thrilled.

"Baseball is difficult to understand sometimes," said Hamels, who was just 10-11 in the regular season. "I'm disappointed that I had an opportunity and couldn't take advantage of it. If it's the very last game of your season, you want to go out on a better note."

Hamels would be in line to pitch Game Seven if this series goes that far, but he's hardly engendering the kind of confidence that assignment normally calls for.

"I wouldn't be hesitant to start him but at the same time we'll see how the series goes," said manager Charlie Manuel. "He showed you for three innings that he can pitch. If he can do that for three innings, why can't he keep it going? That's kind of how I look at it."

At the start of the game, it was Pettitte who liked headed for an early exit. With nothing working, Pettitte was on the verge of an early exit in the second as he needed 36 pitches to retire the side in giving up three runs.

The first of Jayson Werth's two solo home runs, a full-count drive to left, opening the scoring in the second. A bases-loaded walk to Jimmy Rollins and Shane Victorino's sacrifice fly scored the other runs in an inning that was highlighted by Hamels' perfect bunt single.

"You're thinking I've given up three, don't give up another one," Pettitte said. "I was frustated about that. It was just an absolute grind tonight."

The Phillies split the first two games on the road last year and then won all three games at Citizens Bank to take their first championship since 1980. They can't take the same path to a repeat championship this year.

There were plenty of fans in the crowd of 46,061 dressed in Halloween costumes and it seemed like the Yankees hitters were wearing costumes at the start too. Who were these guys? Sure couldn't be the players who won 103 games in the regular season and went 7-2 in the playoffs against the Twins and Angels to win their 40th American League pennant.

Swisher, a 29-home run man during the regular season, had been one of the biggest offenders all month. But he followed his double with a booming home run in the sixth on a full-count pitch from J.A. Happ. That made it 6-3.

"Tonight really turned things around for me," Swisher said. "This postseason has been a struggle but the real thanks goes to my teammates, manager and my family. They've been behind me the whole way."

The Yankees closed the scoring on Jorge Posada's RBI single in the seventh and Hideki Matsui's pinch homer in the eighth.

The New York bullpen got perfect innings of relief from Joba Chamberlain and Damaso Marte but struggling Phil Hughes gave up Carlos Ruiz's home run in the ninth, prompting Girardi to use closer Mariano Rivera when he certainly was trying to avoid that. Rivera got the final two outs in a non-save situation.

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Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard was 0 for 4 with three more strikeouts and has whiffed nine times in three games, three shy of the Series record of 12 set by Kansas City's Willie Wilson against the Phils in 1980. ... Werth has seven home runs this postseason, one behind the record of eight held by Barry Bonds (2002) and Carlos Beltran (2004). ... Pettitte was making his 12th Series start, moving into second on the all-time list behind Yankees legend Whitey Ford (22). Pettitte is 4-4 in those games but 17-9 overall in the postseason. ... Sabathia will become the first

pitcher to start a Series game on three days rest since Josh Beckett pitched his five-hit shutout in Game Six of the 2003 series at Yankee Stadium to clinch the championship for the Florida Marlins.