Homers by Matsui and Teixeira give Yankees lead over Pedro Martinez after 6 innings in Game 2

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Homers by Matsui, Teixeira give Yankees the lead

NEW YORK — Hideki Matsui and Mark Teixeira homered off an otherwise sharp Pedro Martinez, giving the New York Yankees a 2-1 lead over the Philadelphia Phillies after six innings in Game 2 of the World Series on Thursday night.

A.J. Burnett was in control on the mound for the Yankees. He struck out seven, including Ryan Howard three times. The hard-throwing right-hander yielded four hits, one a run-scoring single by Matt Stairs in the second.

Stairs’ hit drove in Raul Ibanez, who made a diving catch in left field to help Martinez stay out of serious trouble.

Throwing an array of soft breaking balls, Martinez fanned Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez twice each. Teixeira homered to right-center leading off the fourth for the Yankees, who were shut down by Philadelphia ace Cliff Lee in a 6-1 loss in the opener.

Matsui snapped a 1-all tie with two outs in the sixth when he reached down and yanked a 1-2 breaking ball over the short porch in right. That gave the Yankees 16 homers this postseason, tying a franchise record.

Rodriguez, however, was 0 for 7 with five strikeouts in his first World Series.

It was the second World Series start for Martinez, one of the great pitchers of this era. He tossed seven shutout innings of three-hit ball for Boston in 2004 against St. Louis, helping the Red Sox win their first championship in 86 years.

Now 38, the right-hander lacks the overpowering fastball he once had, but he still loves the big stage. Signed by the Phillies in mid-July after sitting out the first half of the season, he went 5-1 with a 3.63 ERA in nine starts down the stretch. Then, he allowed two hits in seven scoreless innings during Game 2 of the NL championship series at Dodger Stadium.

Of course, Martinez had a long history of memorable moments at the old Yankee Stadium from his days with Boston.

The familiar Bronx chants of “Who’s Your Daddy?” began as Martinez started stretching in the outfield 30 minutes before game time. They picked up when Jeter led off the bottom of the first inning.

The reference was to Martinez’s priceless quote from 2004 with Boston. Frustrated after another loss to New York, the colorful pitcher said: “I just tip my hat and call the Yankees my daddy.”

He flummoxed the Yankees in the first inning, however, striking out Jeter with an 88 mph fastball and then Johnny Damon with a 75 mph changeup. With the Philadelphia infield playing a pronounced shift, Teixeira hit a towering popup that was caught by staggering shortstop Jimmy Rollins on the right side.

Burnett looked good, too. After leading the AL with 97 walks this season, he threw a first-pitch strike to his first 11 batters — nine watched it go by.

Chase Utley was intentionally walked in the third, extending his major league record to 27 consecutive postseason games in which he has reached base safely. Burnett fanned Howard with a breaking ball, stranding two runners, and pumped his fist as he walked off the mound.

The Phillies gave Martinez a lead in the second inning. Ibanez blooped a two-out double that dropped on the left-field line and Stairs followed with a one-hop smash to the left of third baseman Rodriguez, who barely got a piece of it.

The ball skipped off the edge of the infield grass and under Rodriguez’s glove as he went to his knees. Ibanez easily beat the throw from Damon in left, and A-Rod glanced into his empty glove.

Before that hit, Stairs had been 4 for 51 (.078) dating to July 1. Since June 25, his only RBIs had come on a solo homer against Pittsburgh on July 11 and a grand slam at Washington on Sept. 10.

Burnett struck out Pedro Feliz to avoid further damage.

Martinez froze Rodriguez with a 2-2 curveball to start the bottom of the second. Matsui singled but Ibanez made a diving catch in left field to rob Robinson Cano of a hit before Jerry Hairston Jr. flied out.

The winner of Game 1 has gone on to win the past six World Series and 11 of the last 12.