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New York Yankees pitcher AJ Burnett has admitted that Thursday's World Series clash with Philadelphia Phillies was "the biggest game I've ever thrown in" as he helped inspire his team to a 3-1 win to level the best-of-seven contest 1-1 at Yankee Stadium.The four top hitters for the Phillies went 0-for-10 against Burnett, with Ryan Howard striking out three times.Mark Teixeira and Hideki Matsui then homered for the Yankees, who overcame a 1-0 second-innings deficit for the crucial victory as the series shifts to Philadelphia over the next three games, starting on Saturday."I wanted to come out and attack, feed off the crowd and the energy," said Burnett. "I've done a good job of being calm in situations but I wanted to come out with some fire."I knew it was a big game, the biggest I've ever thrown in for this team."I wanted to set the tone early, be very aggressive. I threw a lot of first-pitch strikes. It made a big difference. I went out with confidence and the game just rolled by."Philadelphia manager Charlie Manuel hailed the performance of Burnett. He said: "Burnett was good. He was very aggressive with his fastball and his slider was off the chart. He pitched a heck of a game."Teixiera, mired in a .186 play-off batting slump, hit a solo homer off Pedro Martinez in the fourth innings to pull New York level and Japan's Matsui struck a sixth-innings homer to give the Yankees a 2-1 lead."It was pretty special, this one," Teixiera said. "We hadn't done anything against them. It put a little bit of a crack in their armour. They had pitched so well. And Matsui's home run was great for our confidence."It was a must-win for us. If we went in there 0-2 it would have been a tough road for us."

The New York Yankees leveled the World Series at one game each as A.J. Burnett out dueled old Yankees nemesis Pedro Martinez in a 3-1 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Thursday.Mark Teixeira and Hideki Matsui homered for the Yankees, who overcame a 1-0 second-inning deficit for the victory as the best-of-seven series shifts to Philadelphia for the next three games starting on Saturday.The hard-throwing Burnett gave up four hits in seven innings and struck out nine while walking two.Martinez, a familiar foe to New York in seven seasons with the Boston Red Sox, went six plus innings and was charged with three runs on six hits and struck out eight.Philadelphia manager Charlie Manuel admired the performances of both pitchers."Burnett was good. He was very aggressive with his fastball and his slider was off the chart. He pitched a heck of a game," Manuel told reporters."Pedro did a tremendous job, changing speeds, but he got hurt by the long ball from left-handed hitters."Philadelphia scored in the second when Raul Ibanez blooped a two-out double down the left-field line and came home when third baseman Alex Rodriguez failed to corral a smash off the bat of designated hitter Matt Stairs.Teixeira, who had been slumping with a .186 postseason average, blasted a 1-0 pitch into the Yankees bullpen in right-center to tie it 1-1.Two innings later Matsui put the Yankees in front by pulling a soft, 73 mph curve into the lower deck in right.New York added another run in the seventh after Jerry Hairston Jr and Melky Cabrera opened the inning with singles.Park Chan-ho relieved Martinez and yielded a single to center by pinch-hitter Jorge Posada that scored pinch-runner Brett Gardner.Closer Mariano Rivera pitched the last two innings for the save, escaping trouble in the eighth by getting Chase Utley to rap into a double play turned by Robinson Cano and Derek Jeter.Andy Pettitte, who has a record 16 career postseason wins, starts Saturday for the Yankees against fellow left-hander Cole Hamels, last year's World Series MVP for the Phillies.