Phillies starter Pedro Martinez provided a quality six inning performance in Thursday’s game 2 giving up 3 runs on 6 hits, 2 of those hits being solo homers, but the offense which grabbed control of game 1 in the late innings, was largely shut down by Yankees starter A.J. Burnett, who went seven innings giving up 1 run on 4 hits, and future Hall of Fame closer  Mariano Rivera.  In the 3 situations where the Phillies threatened against Burnett and Rivera, they couldn’t buy that clutch RBI hit as Burnett and Rivera stifled the Phillies by a 3-1 score as the Yankees knotted the Series at a game apiece.
 
As in game 1, the Phillies hit the scoreboard first with a run in the second after Pedro made short work of the Yankees in the first inning.
In that first inning, Martinez struck out both Derek Jeter, the 1st of 3 times Jeter went down on strikes in the game, and leftfielder Johnny Damon before getting 1st baseman Mark Teixeira to pop out to shortstop on a 2-2 pitch.

Burnett retired the first 5 Phillies he faced, 2 on strikeouts, before leftfielder Raul Ibanez pounded a 2 out ground-rule double to leftfield.  DH lefthanded hitting Matt Stairs followed with a single to leftfield scoring Ibanez with the Phils’ only run.  Burnett struck out 3rd baseman Pedro Feliz to end the inning.

Rightfielder Jayson Werth led off the third inning with a single to rightfield but was picked-off of 1st base by Burnett with Ibanez at the plate.  The Yankee starter struck out Ibanez and Stairs, first pitch swinging, lined out to leftfield to end the inning.

The 1-0 Phillies lead held up until Teixeira blistered Martinez’s 2nd pitch of the fourth inning out to right centerfield to knot the game at 1-1.

In the fifth, catcher Carlos Ruiz stroked Burnett’s 2-2 pitch to leftfield for a double but was stranded as shortstop Jimmy Rollins struck out and centerfielder Shane Victorino popped out to 3rd base to end the inning.

Burnett went clean on the Phils in the sixth inning as 1st baseman Ryan Howard struck out for the 3rd time in the game.  Howard fanned in all 4 plate appearances.

Martinez looked as if cruising striking out Teixeira and 3rd baseman  Alex Rodriguez to open the the Yankees’ sixth.  A-Rod would fan 3 times in the game, both he and Jeter would account for 5 of Pedro’s 8 strikeouts.  But with a 1-2 count, DH Hideki Matsui reached Martinez for a solo shot to rightfield giving the Yanks a 2-1 lead.

In the Phillies seventh, Burnett was, by now, cruising going clean on the Phillies fanning 2 and coaxing Feliz into a groundout. 

Martinez was chased in the seventh after giving up singles to the first 2 Yankee hitters he faced and was relieved by Chan Ho Park and then by lefthander Scott Eyre as the Yanks’ pinch hitter and catcher Jorge Posada singled to center to drive-in the Yankees’ 3rd and final run which was charged to Martinez.

Pedro provided an impressive effort throwing 107 pitches in six-
plus innings walking 2 and striking out 8 while giving up the 2 homers and giving up the 3 runs on 6 hits in a losing cause.

The Phillies Nation blog sums up Martinez’s effort:

When Charlie Manuel announced that Pedro Martinez would get the nod in New York, the script was written, it was just waiting to be performed.

All of the hype surrounding Martinez’s return to New York and “Who’s Your Daddy,” and what not, Pedro came out unfazed. He made two mistakes that were rightly hammered for long-balls. However, everywhere Martinez goes, a show is sure to follow. For six innings, Phillies fans got exactly that.

Winning pitcher Burnett went seven innings giving up 1 run on 4 hits while walking 2, striking out 9 and largely baffling Phillies hitters.

Yankee manager Girardi, seeing Burnett’s pitch count at 108 after seven innings, didn’t mess with middle relief or set-up and went right to closer Rivera to start the eighth inning.  After getting Ruiz to ground out to 3rd base, Rollins battled Rivera for an 11 pitch at-bat finally drawing a walk.   Victorino followed touching Rivera for a single to rightfield — runners on 1st and 2nd base.  But 2nd baseman Chase Utley, silent in game 2 after a 2 homer game 1, grounded Rivera’s full-count pitch into an inning-ending doubleplay.

The Phillies brought on reliever Ryan Madson who had an impressive ninth inning only giving up a single to 2nd baseman Robinson Cano while striking out the side: A-Rod, Matsui and late-game centerfield replacement Brett Gardner.

Ibanez, the only Phil with any production at the plate, stroked his 2nd double of the game with 2 outs in the ninth. But Rivera went to a 2-2 count on Matt Stairs before fanning him to end the game.

Just how unproductive was the Phillies’ offense?  The first 5 hitters went a collective 2 for 17 with 3 walks while fanning 6 times.  4 of strikeouts were on Howard.

Both teams have Friday off and resume play on Saturday at Citizen’s Bank Park as the Phils look to jump-start their offense and to jump ahead of the Yankees in another battle of lefties as Cole Hamels is opposed by Andy Pettitte.

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Phillies ace Cliff Lee was nothing short of magnificent in the matchup of lefthanders with Yankees ace C.C. Sabathia.  Lee carried a shutout into the ninth inning with the Yanks only run scoring on shortstop Jimmy Rollins’ throwing error on a fielder’s choice grounder. 2nd baseman Chase Utley reached Sabathia for solo homers in the third and sixth innings as Lee breezed.  But the Phillies offense salted the game away taking control with 4 late-inning runs including an eighth inning bases loaded 2 run single by leftfielder Raul Ibanez.  Lee, Utley and Ibanez led Phillies to a 6-1 World Series opening win over the Yankees.

The win was the Phillies first-ever World Series win over the Yankees to whom they lost in a 4 game sweep in the only other series match-up between the 2 teams in 1950.  That series marked one of the lowest-scoring match-ups in MLB history.  A total of 16 runs were scored in the 4 games; 11 by the Yanks and 5 by the Phils’ “Whiz Kids.”

Lee was masterful on the mound and equally masterful defensively in flawlessly handling 4 put-out opportunities; a first inning bunt grounder, a sixth inning pop out and groundouts in the seventh and eighth innings.  The eighth inning play, as recounted by Phillies Nation’s Brian Michael, was “an amazing behind-the-back stab to rob Robinson Cano of a single.”

As Lee breezed through 9 of the first 11 Yanks he faced allowing only a 1 out single in the second inning and a 2 out double in the third, Utley blistered a 2 out, full-count pitch from Sabathia to the rightfield seats to put the Phils on the board.

Then Lee struck out the side in fourth in a great power-pitching display; 1st baseman Mark Teixeira, 3rd baseman Alex Rodriguez and catcher Jorge Posada — all swinging.

In the fifth, DH Hideki Matsui led off with a single to center but then got doubled off of first base on Cano’s line drive to shortstop Rollins.  Lee then retired the side on a pop out to rightfield.

With 1 out in the Phils’ sixth inning, Utley then turned on Sabathia’s 0-2 pitch bombing it to right centerfield for his 2nd solo shot of the game — sooo nice, we gonna do it twice, and the Phils had a 2-0 lead.

Shortstop Derek Jeter, the only Yankee to reach regularly in the game going 3 for 4, singled to center with 1 out in the sixth.  But then Lee coaxed a pop out to the pitcher and a fielder’s choice grounder rubbing the Yanks in the inning.

Lee then went clean on the Yanks in the seventh on 9 pitches, 3 groundouts.

Then the Phils offense went to work scoring 4 runs, 2 in the eighth and 2 in the ninth as the Yankees burned through 5 reliever to no avail.  Meanwhile, Lee went clean again on the Yanks in the eighth, this time on 12 pitches.

AP’s Ben Walker recaps the Phils eighth and ninth inning scoring for Yahoo sports:

Lee bamboozled the Yankees with a spiked curveball, deceptive changeup and his usual pinpoint fastball, pitching a six-hitter while striking out 10 without a walk. He became the first [pitcher] since Don Newcombe in 1949 to fan double digits with no walks in a Series game.

Raul Ibanez hit a two-run single in the eighth and Shane Victorino added an RBI single in the ninth.

1st baseman Ryan Howard, who had 2 doubles in the game, added his 2nd one for good measure in the ninth driving in the 6th run while Victorino was nailed trying to score from 1st base on the play to end the inning. 

Lee took a shutout into the ninth but then Jeter and leftfielder Johnny Damon each singled to open the frame.  Teixeira then grounded to 2nd base into a textbook fielder’s choice. Damon was out at 2nd base with Jeter moving to third. But Jeter scored and Teixeira moved to second on shortstop Rollins’ throwing error.  With 1 out in the Yanks ninth, Lee fanned A-Rod and Posada to end it.

Winning pitcher Lee threw 122 pitches striking out 10, walking none and giving up the ninth inning run and 6 hits in his complete game effort.  Sabathia provided a superior performance only giving up Utley’s 2 dingers, although he ran deep counts and thus threw 113 pitches in seven innings while giving up 4 hits, walking 3 and striking out 6.

AP’s Walker continues:

The defending champion Phillies shut down Alex Rodriguez & Co. in the first Series game at the new billion-dollar ballpark. Trying to become the first NL team to repeat since Cincinnati in 1975-76, the Phils’ 17-4 postseason run is the best in league history.

How complete was Lee’s shutdown of the Yankees?  A-Rod went down on strikes 3 times while Teixeira and Posada each fanned twice accounting for 7 of Lee’s 10 strikeouts. 

With game 1 in the Phillies hopper, manager Charlie Manuel goes to veteran Pedro Martinez for game 2 on Thursday as the best chance of possibly sneaking out of Yankee stadium with 2 wins over the Yanks.  Martinez also translates into a mega-TV bucks across the nation.  Pedro will be opposed by A.J. Burnett.

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Phillies starter Pedro Martinez threw 1 hit, 1 walk ball through 2 innings on Friday and 1st baseman Ryan Howard slammed a hole through the rain-drops for a 2nd inning lead off solo homer off of Atlanta starter Tom Hanson before the game was delayed for over 1 3/4 hours with the Phils up by 1-0.  When the rains subsided, Martinez was replaced by the emerging rain-delay specialist veteran lefthander Jamie Moyer.  Howard belted a 2nd homer, a 2 run shot off of reliever Kris Medlen in the fourth. Moyer coughed up a run on 4 hits in 4 1/3 innings and Chan Ho Park finished out the seventh inning as the Phils held a 3-1 lead.  The Phillies scored an insurance run in their seventh inning and reliever Ryan Madson gave up a run on a fielder’s choice before getting into a 2 out bases loaded jam in the eighth and escaping with a flyout.   Closer Brad Lidge came on in the ninth making short work of the Braves as Howard and Moyer led the Phillies past the Braves by a 4-2 score in the series opener.

With the win, the Phils upped their NL East Division lead to 8 games over both the Braves as well as the Florida Marlins, who lost on Friday to San Diego.  The Braves and Marlins are tied for 2nd place.  The Mets, who were pounded by the Chicago Cubs, dropped to 17 1/2 games back in 4th place.

A couple of interesting phenomena have begun to emerge with this game.
For the second straight time a Pedro Martinez start was rain-shortened with the Phillies’ Mr. Father-Time Jamie Moyer spelling him successfully after the delay to earn a win.  This time, Moyer gave threw 61 pitches in 4 1/3 innings while striking out 5.  Further, Moyer has shaved .35 off of his ERA in 10 1/3 innings of 1 run ball through the 2 games.  In the 2 rain-delay-induced appearances, Moyer has yet to walk a hitter or give up a homer.

The AP recap of the game reported the 2nd phenomenon; that closer Brad Lidge arrived at Citizens’ Bank Park sporting a new ‘doo:

Lidge arrived… with a “military” style haircut, a developing trend among the relievers, and said he hoped it would change his fortunes.

“Nothing like a fresh haircut to get you on a good run and hopefully bring you luck,” Lidge said. “I haven’t been thrilled with the way my season has gone, but the great thing is we have such a good team where we’re in first place. The consistency hasn’t been there. We all know we have to be at our best by the time the playoffs roll around. I feel like I’m very close.”

Let’s see if the ‘doo works.  On Friday, it was Lidge 12 pitches; 2 ground balls, a strikeout and game over.

Phillies Nation’s Amanda Orr recaps the game from after the rain delay:

Rain continued to fall throughout the evening, but not enough to pause play.  Out of the bullpen, Moyer did his job.  He pitched 4.1 innings, allowing one run on Matt Diaz’s RBI double.  He gave up four hits and struck out five…

Howard (3-for-3) homered again, his 37th of the year. This time it was a two-run shot to center field.  Pedro Feliz added a RBI bloop single in the seventh inning.  With a 4-1 lead, Ryan Madson and Brad Lidge would have to close it out.

Ryan Madson got into a jam.  He surrendered one run after allowing three hits and a walk.  Adam LaRoche flied out for the final out of the inning, and the birthday boy escaped the bases loaded threat.  There was only hope that Lidge would not blow his Major League leading tenth blown save.

With two quick outs, Lidge fell behind 2-0 to Diaz.  He came back firing.  Diaz chased the 2-2 slider, ending the game.  Lidge secured his 26th save of the year.  The win over the Braves extended the Phillies lead in the division to eight games.

Braves starter Hanson, who pitched 2 innings before the rains came giving up a run on 2 hits while striking out 4, was charged with the loss.  He, like Martinez, was pulled when play resumed as 4 relievers finished out the game for the Braves with Medlen giving up Howard’s 2 run fourth inning shot with 2nd baseman Chase Utley aboard.  The 4th Phillies run scored off of Peter Moylan in the seventh as 3rd baseman Pedro Feliz singled driving in leftfielder Raul Ibanez who led off the inning with a triple to deep centerfield.

For the scores of all of Friday’s games, click here.

On Saturday, the Phils look to go 2-up in the series as ace lefthander Cliff Lee hopes to continue his undefeated string since joining the Phils.  Lee is opposed by Derek Lowe who has been pounded in his last 2 outings.

For all of Saturday’s games, click here.

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Lefthander Cole Hamels pitched eight gritty shutout innings in dueling with fellow lefty, Pittsburgh’s Pat Maholm, on Wednesday and got a big fat no-decision for his trouble.  With the Phillies holding a 1-0 lead on 2nd baseman Chase Utley’s first inning solo homer, reliever Ryan Madson came on in the ninth and gave up a 1 out, game-tying homer to pinch hitter Brandon Moss.  1st baseman Ryan Howard broke up the tie in the tenth with a 1st pitch 3 run bomb to rightfield as the Phillies beat the Pirates in 10 innings by a 4-1 score on Howard’s homer.

With the win, the Phillies stayed 7 games up on 2nd place Florida in the NL East divsion race.  Atlanta dropped to 3rd place after being routed by San Diego.  Florida nipped the 4th place Mets who dropped to 17 1/2 games back in the division.

I find it interesting how the AP game recap for Yahoo sports relegated Hamels’ performance to the 8th paragraph, roughly half way through the recap, not even close to doing justice to how worked out of jams in the second, fourth and seventh innings, went clean on the Pirates in two innings and allowed singe base-runners in three other innings.  He gave up 7 hits while walking 2 and striking out 7 while clinging to the early 1-0 Phillies lead resulting from Utley’s first inning solo shot to centerfield.

All of that went for naught as the Phillies provided him with zero offensive support.  And hey, your reliever is entitled to one mistake with the bases empty which Ryan Madson accomodated by coughing up pinch hitter Moss’s 1 out homer in the ninth.  Madson ended up the game-winner (5-4) thanks to Howard’s 3 run shot in the 10th.

A game like this really brings back memories; Elroy Face who, in 1958 and 1959, made a living out of blowing ballgames only to have the Pirates come back to win on his book.  He was 0-2 in 1958 before knotching 22 relief wins without a loss through the ‘58 and ‘59 seasons before finally being on the hook for a loss late in ‘59.   In ‘58 he went 5-2 and in ‘59, 18-1.  Meanwhile, he saved 30 other games during the 2 seasons, 125 games between 1958 and 1963, 193 games over his 16 season career.

Phillies Nation’s Amanda Orr provides a recap of the Phils’ extra-inning win:

Cole Hamels finally put together a solid outing.  He pitched eight shutout innings, but did allow many base runners.  He allowed seven hits, walked two, and hit a batter.  He managed to escaped the jams without problems.  Paul Maholm pitched just as well.  In seven innings, he gave up one run on five hits.  He walked two, struck out four, and was able to get the Phillies to ground out eleven times.

With a 1-0 lead in the top of the ninth, the Phillies would have liked to add on.  With runners on second and third and nobody out, the Pirates wiggled out of a potential big inning.  Joel Hanrahan struck out Ben Francisco and Pedro Feliz.  He intentionally walked pinch hitter Raul Ibanez to get to a slumping Matt Stairs.  Stairs was ahead 3-0, but Hanrahan fought back, getting Stairs to ground out.

Brad Lidge received the day off since he pitched in four straight games.  Ryan Madson took over, and struck out  Steve Pearce to start the inning, topping at 99 mph.  A sign of relief?  Not so much.  The next batter, Brandon Moss, homered to center field, tying the game at one.  For the second day in a row, the Phillies blew a save to the Pirates.

Unlike Lidge, Madson was able to keep the game tied and give the bats, which were silent all night, a chance in the tenth.

Jimmy Rollins walked and Shane Victorino singled.  With Rollins at third, Utley hit a fly ball to center, deep enough for Rollins to score.  Holding up at third, Rollins didn’t take a chance. On the very first pitch to Ryan Howard, Rollins trotted home.  Howard hit a towering drive to right field; a three-run go-ahead home run.

Madson came back out for the bottom of the tenth.  He allowed a lead-off single, but Chase Utley ended the game by turning a fantastic double play on a ball that deflected off the mound.

The question of closer is still very much with us.  Will Brad Lidge catch fire and return to 2008’s form?  Will Brett Myers come back to recapture his form as a closer from 2007?   Or will Manager Charlie Manuel have to revert to closer-by-committee?  Check out this detailed report on closer options from Phillies Nation.

For the scores of all of Wednesday’s games, click here.

The Phils hope to win Thursday’s series final as strong rookie-of-the-year candidate lefthander J.A. Happ is opposed by Charlie Morton.

For all of Thursday’s games, click here.

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Phillies ace lefthander Cliff Lee continued his domination of NL hitters on Monday and 1st baseman Ryan Howard slammed a 1 out, 3 run homer to left centerfield off of Mets starter Bobby Parnell to stake Lee to a 3-0 lead.  But leadoff hitter centerfielder Angel Pagan opened the first inning by again circling the bases, this time scoring as normally sure-defensive-handed 2nd baseman Chase Utley committed 2 errors on 1 play. A triple and a sacrifice fly gave the Mets their 2nd run in the first.  Howard added a third inning 1 out, 2 run homer to give Lee some breathing room.  After the raucus first inning, Lee settled down and went seven innings to win his 5th game in 5 outings for the Phils. Chan Ho Park took over in the eighth making short work of the Mets and closer Brad Lidge did likewise in the ninth as Lee and Howard led the Phillies past the Mets by a 6-2 score in the series final to win 3 of the 4 games.

With the win, the Phils stayed 7 games up on 2nd place Atlanta and 8 up on 3rd place Florida in the NL East division race.  The Mets dropped 16 1/2 games back in 4th place as their season seems over.

Centerfielder Shane Victorino reached to open the game as Mets’ starter Parnell hit him with a pitch on a 2-2 count.  Victorino was in the leadoff spot as normal leadoff hitter shortstop Jimmy Rollins got the day off, replaced by Sunday’s triple-play hero utility infielder Eric Bruntlett.  After rightfielder  Jayson Werth fouled out, the “flyin’ Hawaiian” took 3rd base on catcher  Omir Santos’ throwing error on an attempted steal of 2nd.  Parnell then walked Utley.  Howard responded with the first of his two homers in the game, an opposite-field bomb to left centerfield, to give the Phils an early 3-0 lead.  Parnell then struck out Leftfielder Raul Ibanez and coaxed 3rd baseman Pedro Feliz into a groundout to end the inning.

AP baseball writer Mike Fitzpatrick reports regarding Howard’s homer for Yahoo sports:

The home run… pushed Howard past 100 RBIs, giving him four straight seasons with at least 30 homers and 100 RBIs. The only other Phillies player to accomplish that was Hall of Famer Chuck Klein from 1929-32.

Although the Mets were the first NL club to score 2 runs against Lee since his arrival with the Phillies, the 1st one was of no fault of his.  2nd baseman Utley first dropping Pagan’s leadoff pop up and then threw wildly to 2nd as the speedy centerfielder continued circling the bases.  Then Lee made what may have been his only mistake of the game.  Leftfielder Gary Sheffield nailed a 2-2 pitch to rightfield for a triple and scored on a sacrifice fly to rightfield by 3rd baseman Fernando Tatis.  The Mets would score no further runs as they could only manage a single base runner in any one inning off of either winning pitcher Lee or the Phils bullpen after the first inning.

Parnell walked Werth to open the third inning and Howard gave Lee some wiggle-room by pounding a full-count pitch to rightfield for his 34th homer of the season and 103rd and 104th RBIs.  It was Howard’s 4th multi-homer game of the season, his 2nd within 8 games.

The Phils scored their 6th run in the ninth inning off of reliever Pedro Feliciano on Ibanez’s RBI double. 

AP’s Fitzpatrick writes regarding Cliff Lee:

Lee, last year’s AL Cy Young Award winner, yielded six hits and no walks against a light-hitting lineup that featured Fernando Tatis (six homers) in the cleanup spot. The left-hander struck out five.

“Whenever he’s on the bump, you feel pretty confident,” Howard said.

The Phillies said Lee became the first pitcher to win his first five starts with the team since Marty Bystrom in September 1980, according to research by the Elias Sports Bureau.

“It was already an unbelievable team before I got here. That’s made it easy for me,” Lee said. “It’s been a pretty smooth transition.”

Elias carries some additional trivia on both Howard and Lee:

Ryan Howard’s first-inning home run at Citi Field on Monday produced his 600th career RBI. He reached that milestone in his 693rd game, the fastest for any major-league player since 1946, when Ted Williams collected his 600th RBI in his 675th game.

Cliff Lee allowed only two unearned runs in seven innings at Citi Field on Monday, improving to 5-0 with a 0.68 ERA since joining the Phillies. Lee and Fernando Valenzuela are the only major-league pitchers in the past 60 years to win each of their first five career starts for a team, with an ERA below 1.00 over those five games. Valenzuela made 10 appearances in relief for the Dodgers in 1980 and then made his first career start on Opening Day of the 1981 season. Through five starts in 1981, Valenzuela’s ERA was 0.20.

Lee went seven innings throwing 114 pitches giving up 2 runs, neither earned, on 6 hits while striking out 5.  He now has a string of 16 innings over 2 games without issuing a walk.  Relievers Park and Lidge went clean on the Mets in the eighth and ninth inning respectively.

Losing pitcher Bobby Parnell went five innings throwing 103 pitches giving up 5 runs on Howard’s 2 homers, 4 hits while walking 3 and striking out 3.  Ex-closer Billy Wagner made his 2nd appearance for the Mets since returning from Tommy John surgery.  Wagner walked 1, struck out 2 and allowed no hits.

For the scores of all of Monday’s games, click here.

The Phils next head for Pittsburgh for a 3 game series on Tuesday through Thursday before returning home for a 3 game weekend series against  Atlanta to end the month of August.

In Tuesday’s opener, Joe Blanton takes the mound opposed by Ross Ohlendorf for the Pirates.

For all of Tuesday’s games, click here.

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Newly acquired ace Phillies lefthander Cliff Lee was once again awesome carrying a no-hit bid into the sixth inning.  And the numbers 2 through 6 of the Phillies lineup brought out their heavy lumber peppering Diamondbacks’ starter Dan Haren for 3 homers and reliever Juan Gutierrez for another.  Rightfielder Jayson Werth had a multi-homer game, his fifth inning shot to centerfield followed back-to-back behind 1st baseman Ryan Howard’s 3 run shot to left centerfield, his 5th dinger in 6 games as Lee and 4 Homers led the Phillies past Arizona by an 8-1 score in game 2 of their 3 game series.

With the win, the Phils upped their lead in the NL East division race over 2nd place Florida, who lost, to 5 1/2 games.  The Atlanta Braves remained 6 1/2 games back in 3rd place after pounding New York.  The Mets dropped to 13 1/2 games back in 4th place.

Phillies Nation’s Amanda Orr recaps another sterling performance by Cliff Lee and a Phillies offensive outburst:

All 45,356 rose to their feet anticipating the final out of Cliff Lee’s complete game. With the Phillies 8-1 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks, Lee has won seven consecutive games.

With Lee and Dan Haren on the mound, the game was expected to be a pitchers’ duel. Lee did his part, but the Phillies rocked Haren. Normally, the Diamondbacks play shaky defense, but all six runs that Haren allowed were earned.

After a couple missed opportunities in the first two innings, the Phillies got on the board in the third on Chase Utley’s two-run home run. With the homer, the Phillies now have four players with at least 25 home runs: Howard (31), Werth (27), [Raul] Ibanez (27), and Utley (25).

In the fourth inning, the Diamondbacks manufactured a run without a hit.  Ryan Roberts grounded to Pedro Feliz, but the ball went under his glove for a two-base error. Roberts moved to third on a grounder to the right side of the infield, and Stephen Drew’s sacrifice fly put the D-backs on the board. The perfect game and shutout ended, but Lee still had the no-hitter working.

For the second time in four starts, Lee took a no-hitter into the sixth inning.  Chad Tracy broke up the no-hit bid on a line drive up the middle.

The Indians did not provide Lee with much run support, but he received plenty tonight. Ryan Howard’s opposite field, three-run homer gave the Phillies a 5-1 lead. Before the Liberty Bell could stop ringing and the fans could sit down, Jayson Werth took the first pitch deep off the ivy in center field. Werth homered again in the seventh inning.

As he stepped into the batter’s box in the eighth, fans knew that Lee would be attempting the complete game. After a big hack on the first pitch, Lee dribbled a hit down the third base line. Mark Reynolds hoped it would roll foul, but Lee hustled out the single. It was his second hit of the night; the same amount of hits he allowed.

Lee struck out 11 batters, tying a career high. He improved to 4-0 and lowered his ERA to 0.82 with the Phillies. His complete game is his second with the Phillies, and fifth of the season. The only run he allowed was unearned, and he did not walk a batter. Lee has gone at least seven innings in each… of his starts with the Phillies.

Lee’s line for the game was 106 pitches, 1 run, 2 hits, no walks and 11 strikeouts. His era is 0.82 with the Phillies and 2.86 overall.  And get this stat; Phillies pitchers have not walked a batter in eighteen innings and have not allowed a homer in 17 innings.

Haren went five innings throwing 90 pitches and allowing 6 runs on 9 hits while walking 1 and striking out 6.  The Arizona bullpen gave up 2 runs on 4 hits over the final three innings.

AP Sports Writer Rob Maaddi reports for Yahoo sports:

Werth has seven career multihomer games, including two this season. 

The only negatives on this game; Howard struck out 2 more times, as his strikeout count continues to rise, and Raul Ibanez struck out 3 times, he’s struck out 15 in his last 9 games.

For the scores of all of Wednesday’s games, click here.

The Phils go after a sweep of Arizona in Thursday’s series final as Joe Blanton is opposed by lefthander Doug Davis for the D-backs.

After the Phils close out their brief homestand with the final against Arizona, they head to New York for a 4 game series on Friday through Monday with the Mets who could wash away their season totally by falling further behind the Phillies.

For all of Thursday’s games, click here.

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