Cliff Lee's Magic Wears Off in the 8th Inning, Phillies Drop Rubber Match With Blue Jays
By: Mike Reisman
Expectations are always a tough thing, especially when they are as high as they were for Cliff Lee in today's game against the Toronto Blue Jays. After a June where Lee went 5-0 with a 0.21 ERA, expectations for today's game were astronomical. Lee had one of the best month's of any pitcher in the history of the game, so to follow up his performance, he would need nothing short of a fourth straight complete game shutout. Unfortunately for Lee, today was just not his day and his June success would wear off, allowing the Blue Jays to salvage their home series.
Lee would be given a four run cushion 2nd inning from singles by Ben Francisco and Jimmy Rollins, who's single scored two runs, along with a double from Carlos Ruiz. The Jays would chip away in the 3rd with an RBI ground out, but Lee would recover pitching a perfect fourth. However, in the 5th, the wheels would start to come off of Lee's performance, allowing a run in both the 5th and 6th innings, and then giving up four runs in the 8th including three home runs, giving the Blue Jays the lead. They wouldn't give it back, winning the game 7-4 and giving Cliff Lee his first loss since May 31st.
As much as today's game seems like just a setback for Lee, this could have much larger consequences for Lee as an individual than it did for the team. Lee's game today moved his ERA from an incredible 2.66 to a less spectacular 2.92. Though this may not seem like a problem, Lee's chances at being the All-Star game starter may have been severely damaged with just more than a week until the mid-summer classic. Of course, there are many more important things, but for Lee, this game could have been a nice milestone.
Unlike the rest of the series, the Phillies bats were unable to produce today, and though the Phillies only scored one less run than yesterday, the way they scored was the problem. In today's game, the Phillies scored all at once, in just the 2nd inning. While one inning of scoring isn't a huge problem, from the 6th inning on, the Phillies could only manage two hits. The Philies need late inning runs like the ones scored in the rest of the series to be able to be competitive, especially if one of their pitchers has a bad day, like today.
The Phillies will spend their July 4th in Florida for a 6:10 game with the Marlins, as Vance Worley will take on Ricky Nolasco.