A.J. Burnett made the most of his first World Series appearance by guiding the New York Yankees to a critical 3-1 win over the Philadelphia Phillies.

With the Phillies having won Wednesday's series opener 6-1, the pressure was on Burnett to help the Yankees rebound before the series moved to Philadelphia for the next three games.

"He was outstanding," Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter said. "He was hitting his spots all night. I can't remember him missing a spot.

"It was probably the best he's pitched all year."

Burnett pitched seven innings, giving up one run on four hits while striking out nine. The 32-year-old right-hander kept the Phillies off-balance with a killer curveball and slider.

He played with an economy of pitches, tossing only 108 against last season's World Series champions.

"I knew it was a big game, it's no lie," said Burnett, who signed a five-year, $82.5 million contract with the Yankees as a free agent last December. "It was the biggest game I've ever thrown in for this team."

"You try to prepare for yourself for these games and this city and this crowd and the team you're going up against. That's an outstanding lineup right there.

"But I fed off the crowd tonight. They were up every time I got one strike, they were up every time I got two, and instead of over throwing, I stayed within myself.

"They were cheering all the time, but when I struck guys out they really got loud, so I was trying to keep that going for them."

When the Yankees won their last championship in 2003 over Florida, Burnett was on the Marlins' staff but was unable to play because of an injury.

He made the most of his opportunity this time around, with Phillies manager Charlie Manuel conceding that his effort was "tremendous."

"I felt like if we could have hit his fastball early and made him throw breaking balls a lot that his command might be not so well and we might be able to get him deep in counts and hit him better," said Manuel.

"But he blocked all that out by throwing his fastball for strikes and being very aggressive with it. And then of course his slider was off the chart."