Lee’s Complete Game Lifts Phillies
source: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/08/sports/baseball/08phillies.html
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PHILADELPHIA — The flag adorned with 2008 whipped and thrashed in the gusting winds Wednesday afternoon. It is a red-and-white reminder of the Phillies’ recent glory, that any team wishing to unseat them as World Series champions must come through Philadelphia and tame the ferocious offense and brilliant starting pitching that spanked the Colorado Rockies and began their title defense.
The largest crowd in Citizens Bank Park history exulted as Cliff Lee, making his postseason debut, pitched all nine innings in the Phillies’ 5-1 victory over the Rockies in Game 1 of their National League division series. Lee was not a member of the Phillies last season; he joined them in a late July deal with Cleveland that was made for one specific purpose: to add an ace to pitch in front of Cole Hamels.
Over one stretch Wednesday, Lee retired 16 consecutive batters, and his efficiency (113 pitches) rendered moot the Phillies’ most pressing question: Who would close? Hardly anyone in their bullpen stirred, even to stretch, until there were two outs in the ninth, as Lee overwhelmed a Colorado lineup already vulnerable to left-handed pitching.
Every member of the Phillies’ lineup except for Pedro Feliz had at least one hit, with the Nos. 4, 5 and 6 hitters — Ryan Howard, Jayson Werth and Raul Ibanez — combining for six hits and four runs batted in. Held in check by Ubaldo Jimenez through four innings, they scored two in the fifth and three more in the sixth to back Lee.
Uncertain as the rest of the Phillies’ pitching plans are, Manager Charlie Manuel had two and only two options to start Game 1: Hamels, the reigning World Series most valuable player, and Lee, the reigning Cy Young award winner in the American League. A difficult decision, perhaps, but Manuel preferred a fully rested Lee over Hamels on short rest. Lee started 5-0 with a 0.68 earned run average with the Phillies but ended 2-4 with a 6.13 earned run average in his last seven starts.
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Source: The New York Times
The largest crowd in Citizens Bank Park history exulted as Cliff Lee, making his postseason debut, pitched all nine innings in the Phillies’ 5-1 victory over the Rockies in Game 1 of their National League division series. Lee was not a member of the Phillies last season; he joined them in a late July deal with Cleveland that was made for one specific purpose: to add an ace to pitch in front of Cole Hamels.
Over one stretch Wednesday, Lee retired 16 consecutive batters, and his efficiency (113 pitches) rendered moot the Phillies’ most pressing question: Who would close? Hardly anyone in their bullpen stirred, even to stretch, until there were two outs in the ninth, as Lee overwhelmed a Colorado lineup already vulnerable to left-handed pitching.
Every member of the Phillies’ lineup except for Pedro Feliz had at least one hit, with the Nos. 4, 5 and 6 hitters — Ryan Howard, Jayson Werth and Raul Ibanez — combining for six hits and four runs batted in. Held in check by Ubaldo Jimenez through four innings, they scored two in the fifth and three more in the sixth to back Lee.
Uncertain as the rest of the Phillies’ pitching plans are, Manager Charlie Manuel had two and only two options to start Game 1: Hamels, the reigning World Series most valuable player, and Lee, the reigning Cy Young award winner in the American League. A difficult decision, perhaps, but Manuel preferred a fully rested Lee over Hamels on short rest. Lee started 5-0 with a 0.68 earned run average with the Phillies but ended 2-4 with a 6.13 earned run average in his last seven starts.
end of excerpt
Source: The New York Times
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