The Phils continued their series with the Giants tonight as Cliff Lee made his first start for the Phillies. Shane Victorino was absent from the lineup again, but it didn't matter as Lee brought an unmistakable energy and aura to the park that was all his own. He really was electrifying from start to finish and took a no hitter into the 6th inning before Juan Uribe broke it up and ultimately caused Lee to finish the night with only a memorable complete game victory, while allowing just 1 run on 4 hits. Surprisingly Lee's bat was almost as impressive tonight as his arm as he collected 2 hits and actually scored a run. In short he could not have had a better Phils debut. The fact is that no one in the NL has really seen him so it's not unreasonable to expect him to be this dominant the rest of the season and let's face it just the thought of that is reason to celebrate already. I mean who needs a bullpen when you've got this guy. Anyway getting back to the game as good as Lee was the Phils lineup was sluggish again and Lee had to wait until the 7th inning before they finally gave him a nice 4-0 cushion following a bases loaded walk to Raul Ibanez and a bases loaded single by Jayson Werth. Then Lee himself doubled and scored in the 8th inning for a 5-0 lead and then closed it out from there but only after allowing his only run of the night in the bottom of the inning. In the end I think perhaps most impressive thing about Lee tonight was that he only needed 109 pitches to get through the whole game. Even Cole and Happ needed like 120-130 pitches for their complete games against the Dodgers and the Blue Jays respectively. I mean Lee didn't even look tired while talking to the media after the game. Anyway so the Phils move to 59-42 overall now and still 6 games up in the NL East.
2 comments:
Well if that isnt instant gratification for a new asset then I dont know what is. I cant wait to see more.
-to ph1llysports
uh I am not sure gratification is the word I would use but okay
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