In their case, preferably all over the home clubhouse.

The Yankees' failure to clinch the World Series against the Philadelphia Phillies on Monday in Philadelphia gives them the chance to cap their inaugural season at the new Yankee Stadium with a championship celebration on their own turf while repeating a bit of history.

When the club opened the original Yankee Stadium in 1923, it won the title as well.

The return home affords New York benefits it didn't have in Game 5 at Citizens Bank Park, where the bottom of its batting order consisted of Brett Gardner, Jose Molina and A.J. Burnett.

Jorge Posada will be back behind the plate in place of Molina, and the shift back to an American League park allows Hideki Matsui— batting .556 with two home runs in the series — to start the game as the designated hitter. He had to settle for pinch-hitting duties in Philadelphia.

The Yankees also enjoy the comfort of having posted the best home record in baseball at 57-24.

"Having Matsui in there and myself, the lineup gets a little longer and it's a tougher lineup," said Posada, who doesn't start with Burnett on the mound. "We're in a good situation. We're up 3-2; we're home; we have the designated hitter back. It was really important to do what we did in Philadelphia, winning two of three."

Posada hit a two-run single in the ninth inning of Sunday's 7-4 win, and Matsui lined a pinch-hit homer in Saturday's 8-5 victory.

The Yankees have scored a total of 21 runs in the last three games after tallying four in the opening two.

The output has taken pressure off first baseman Mark Teixeira, who had an MVP-worthy first season in New York after signing a $180 million free agent deal but is batting .172 in the postseason.

With a runner on base and Alex Rodriguez on deck in the ninth inning Monday, Teixeira struck out for the final out of an 8-6 loss.

"We're up 3-2, that's the thing," said Teixeira, who is batting .105 with seven strikeouts in the Series. "If we're getting beat 2-1 every single game and we're not scoring any runs and I'm leaving a boatload of guys on base, then, yeah, I'm going to squeeze the life out of the bat. But my teammates have been picking me up all season, and I've been picking them up all season."

Both Teixeira and Matsui homered in Game 2 against Pedro Martinez, who was otherwise sharp in taking a 3-1 loss and will start again tonight, opposing Andy Pettitte.

Matsui's 320-foot shot was a Yankee Stadium special, a fly ball that had just enough legs to find the seats in the short porch in right field.

Call it a homefield advantage, one the Yankees hope to exploit on the way to a celebration of their 27th title.

"It's always nicer to do it at home," reliever Phil Coke said. "You have a whole ballpark behind you. Everybody's hugging and kissing each other. It's good stuff for everybody.

"If you do it on the road, you probably have bottles thrown at you or something."

Enlarge By H Darr Beiser, USA TODAY Designated hitter Hideki Matsui, watching his home run in Game 2, returns to the lineup tonight.