Lee Posts 6 Hit Shutout as Phillies Beat Nationals
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Phillies ace lefthander Cliff Lee recovered the mastery which marked to his first 5 wins with the club on Tuesday in posting his first NL shutout. 2nd baseman Chase Utley’s 1st inning RBI single as well as catcher Carlos Ruiz’s bases-loaded 3 run double and shortstop Jimmy Rollins’ RBI single both in the fourth inning, all off of Washington’s Garrett Mock, were all the support needed as Lee posted a 6 hit shutout and the Phillies beat Nationals by a 5-0 score.
With the wins, the Phils remained 7 games up on 2nd place Florida and 7 1/2 up on 3rd place Atlanta in the NL East as both of those clubs also won their games. The fourth place Mets who have been mathematically eliminated from contention dropped to 21 games back.
Lee got early help from the Phillies offense which played small-ball to score 5 runs in the first two innings. Then last season’s AL Cy Young award winner took care of the rest. After Pedro Martinez’s shutout of the Mets in the 2nd game of Sunday’s doubleheader, the shutout string by Phillies pitching is at eighteen innings.
AP sports writer Rob Maaddi recaps the Phillies’ win for Yahoo sports:
The NL East leaders have won six of eight and reduced their magic number for clinching their third consecutive division title to 12 with 19 games remaining.
The Phillies scored one run off Mock in the first and four in the second. Jimmy Rollins led off the first with a double to right and Chase Utley singled him in after Shane Victorino sacrificed.
Raul Ibanez started the second with an opposite-field double to left and Jayson Werth followed with a single. After Pedro Feliz walked to load the bases, Ruiz hit a bouncer down the left-field line. The ball rolled into the corner, allowing all three runners to score. Rollins singled in Ruiz to make it 5-0.
Ruiz, the No. 8 hitter in Philadelphia’s potent lineup, has been hot lately. Since Aug. 15, he’s batting .371 (26 for 70) to raise his average from .224 to .258.
“He’s seeing the ball good, he’s being more aggressive and more selective,” Manuel said.
In his best outing in three weeks, Lee (7-2) struck out nine and walked three to record his second shutout and sixth complete game this season. He was 1-2 with a 9.60 ERA in his previous three starts after giving up three earned runs in his first five with Philadelphia.
Lee has been outstanding for the most part, posting a 2.67 ERA in nine starts. Overall, he is 14-11 with 3.00 ERA.
Phillies manager Charlie Manuel had no intention of removing Lee from the game in the ninth, even though his pitch count was 110 after eight innings.
“He was still strong at the end,” Manuel said. “He was still popping his fastball. It had a lot of life on it.”
Lee hardly broke a sweat except in the fourth inning. He walked the bases loaded after going 39 innings without issuing one. But Lee struck out Josh Bard to escape the jam.
He fanned the last two batters in the ninth, firing a 92 mph fastball past Bard on his 124th pitch to end it.
Nationals starter Garrett Mock (3-8) allowed five runs and seven hits in six innings. He settled down after the second inning, giving up one hit over the next four.
“He had a little bad luck,” Nationals manager Jim Riggleman said. “They hit some balls hard, but he threw well after the second inning.”
Lee retired 9 of the first 10 Nationals he faced before walking 3 in the fourth inning while getting the first 2 outs in-between walks. But Lee struck out catcher Josh Bard swinging on 3 pitches and went on to retire 14 of the last 18 hitters he faced. Lee gave up 6 hits, walked 3 and struck out 9 in a masterful effort. Losing pitcher Mock, who threw 107 pitches in 6 innings gave up 5 runs on 7 hits while walking 2 and striking out 2, held the Phils to 1 hit after the second inning. 3 Nationals relievers held the Phils scoreless through the final two innings.
Ruiz had a big night with 3 RBIs, all on his second inning double and a run scored. He had 2 hits for the game. Werth went 3 for 4 scoring a run and Rollins went 2 for 4 with an RBI and a run scored.
For the scores of all of Monday’s and Tuesday’s games, click here amd here.
In Wednesday’s game 2, Joe Blanton hopes to reverse the pounding he took in last Thursday’s game in Washington. He is opposed by Livan Hernandez in a rematch between the two.
For all of Wednesday’s games, click here.
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