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Even in the regular season, the question whenever A.J. Burnett takes the mound is which of his split pitching personalities is in uniform: Good A.J. or Bad A.J.

Monday night the latter made an appearance, and as a result the World Series is going back to the Bronx for a sixth game after the Philadelphia Phillies tore into Burnett and then held on for an 8-6 win in Game 5 of the World Series at Citizens Bank Park.

“If we would have pitched today we probably would have won that game,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. “I don’t think there was any correlation between him [Burnett] pitching on short rest and the results. He just looked like he did in the American League Championship Series in Anaheim, but he was not able to recover this time.”

The Series will resume at Yankee Stadium Wednesday night with the Yankees leading 3-2 and a seventh game, if necessary, will be played Thursday.

Pedro Martinez will start for the Phillies and Girardi said he would start Andy Pettitte if Pettitte feels okay following a light throwing session Monday. Phillies starter Cliff Lee also said he would be available to pitch again in the Series after picking up his second win of the World Series Monday night. “I’ll pitch whenever they want me to pitch,” Lee said, knowing that manager Charlie Manuel might want to avoid Cole Hamels in a seventh game. “I don’t really get that sore.”

Burnett was no match for the Phillies bats or fellow Arkansan Lee, who picked his way through the Yankees lineup allowing seven hits and five earned runs in seven innings. Two of the runs came on a double by the final batter he faced, Alex Rodriguez, whose 18 postseason RBIs are a club record.

Chase Utley had two home runs for the Phillies, giving him five for the World Series, tying the record set by Reggie Jackson in 1977.

The Yankees did not go quietly into the cool, clear Fall evening. But with two runs already in on a Derek Jeter double play and Johnny Damon single, Ryan Madson struck out Mark Teixeira to put the Yankees quest for a 27th World Series on hold. The Phillies made use of two runs they added on in the seventh on solo homers by Utley and Raul Ibanez off Phil Coke, yet another disappointing signal for the Yankees bullpen.

Pitching on three days rest, Burnett (1-1) didn’t make it out of the third inning, allowing six earned runs and four hits while walking four of the 15 men he faced.

The Yankees scored first on a two-out double by Jeter in the first, but the Phillies grabbed a 3-1 lead in a span of three pitches.

Their strategy was apparent: jumping on his fastball so that he couldn’t use his curve to expand the strike zone the way he did in Game 2. The result will have been familiar to anybody who followed Burnett when he was with the Toronto Blue Jays.

After Rollins led off with a single, Burnett hit Shane Victorino with a pitch as he was squaring to bunt and then Utley crushed his next pitch for his fourth homer of the Series. Victorino later came out of the game, although Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said x-rays on his injured finger were negative.

Burnett gave up back-to-back walks to open the third, and both runners scored on singles by Jayson Werth and Raul Ibanez, the latter of which ended Burnett’s night.

The extension of the series means a controversy that surfaced Monday will be given more time to percolate. The Yankees' predilection for meetings on the mound has Major League Baseball saying it will examine the issue in the off-season. In Game 4 Sunday night, catcher Jorge Posada visited CC Sabathia eight times in a single inning.

In the seventh inning, home plate umpire Dana DeMuth called a strike on Posada on an 0-1 pitch despite the fact Posada had called for time while Lee was in his windup. DeMuth rang him Posada on the next pitch. It has long been contended by baseball people that the Yankees – particularly Derek Jeter - are given more latitude than other teams when it comes to stepping out of the batter’s box.

Further fuel was added to the debate when Larry Bowa, the former Phillies manager and current Los Angeles Dodgers coach, told ESPN that the Phillies were rumoured around baseball to be stealing opposing catchers signs when they had runners on base. That would explain, he said, why there would be meetings on the mound, as Yankees catchers, pitchers and middle infielders would need to change signs if they suspected Phillies base-runners were stealing signs.

Victorino rubbished the contention before the game, calling it “weak."

“If he doesn’t have cold, hard facts he shouldn’t say something about that,” Victorino said. “Obviously, if we’re stealing signs we would be doing better than we’re doing right now.”

There is nothing illegal about stealing signs. Indeed, the 1992-93 Blue Jays were considered master practicioners. Manuel, for his part, had fun with Bowa’s suggestions.

“I can tell you this: if I can steal signs, I will,” Manuel said. “I mean if I can. That means we’re definitely not. I mean … I don’t know nothing about it. Usually I do. We don’t have their signs and we’re not stealing their signs … but we are trying.”

Before the game, the Yankees received permission from Major League Baseball to replace Melky Cabrera on the roster with Ramiro Pena. Cabrera suffered a mild hamstring strain in Game 4.