Cliff Lee got all he needed in a quirky first inning.
Ryan Howard connected for a three run blast in the first inning to give the Phillies a quick 3-0 lead. With Lee only giving up one earned run in each of his four starts in a Phillies uniform that figured to be enough. It was but it did not come as easy as expected.
Usually defensively sound, Chase Utley committed not one but two errors the first batter for the Mets, Angel Pagan. Utley dropped a pop fly ball, much like the Mets' Luis Castillo infamously did earlier in the season, and proceeded to throw the ball to left field while trying to get Pagan at second base. As the ball went to left field Pagan was able to score. In the process Pagan became the first player in major league history to score a lead off run in his first at bat in two consecutive games without hitting the ball over the fences for a home run. He hit a lead off inside the park home run in yesterday's game.
You know the first inning was strange when Gary Sheffield hit a stand up triple later, though there was an error on the play. The two teams combined for five runs on just two hits in the first inning.
Howard added a two run home run in the third inning to put the Phillies up 5-2. From there Lee continued to shut down the Mets and keep away from any rallies.
Lee finished the day with seven innings pitched and five strike outs, zero walks and allowed six hits. His two runs that were charged were both unearned runs. Another fine outing by Lee.
Chan Ho Park pitched the eighth inning in relief of Lee and did not allow a base runner. Brad Lidge entered the ninth inning in a non save situation, after the Phillies had added an extra run in the top of the final inning to erase the save situation. Lidge also had a perfect inning of work to seal the deal.
For the Phillies the win puts them seven games up on the Atlanta Braves in the NL East and lowers the magic number to clinch the division to 33. The win also gave the Phillies a three games to one series victory against the Mets.
Original Story:
http://macho-row.blogspot.com/2009/08...
Ryan Howard connected for a three run blast in the first inning to give the Phillies a quick 3-0 lead. With Lee only giving up one earned run in each of his four starts in a Phillies uniform that figured to be enough. It was but it did not come as easy as expected.Usually defensively sound, Chase Utley committed not one but two errors the first batter for the Mets, Angel Pagan. Utley dropped a pop fly ball, much like the Mets' Luis Castillo infamously did earlier in the season, and proceeded to throw the ball to left field while trying to get Pagan at second base. As the ball went to left field Pagan was able to score. In the process Pagan became the first player in major league history to score a lead off run in his first at bat in two consecutive games without hitting the ball over the fences for a home run. He hit a lead off inside the park home run in yesterday's game.
You know the first inning was strange when Gary Sheffield hit a stand up triple later, though there was an error on the play. The two teams combined for five runs on just two hits in the first inning.
Howard added a two run home run in the third inning to put the Phillies up 5-2. From there Lee continued to shut down the Mets and keep away from any rallies.
Lee finished the day with seven innings pitched and five strike outs, zero walks and allowed six hits. His two runs that were charged were both unearned runs. Another fine outing by Lee.
Chan Ho Park pitched the eighth inning in relief of Lee and did not allow a base runner. Brad Lidge entered the ninth inning in a non save situation, after the Phillies had added an extra run in the top of the final inning to erase the save situation. Lidge also had a perfect inning of work to seal the deal.
For the Phillies the win puts them seven games up on the Atlanta Braves in the NL East and lowers the magic number to clinch the division to 33. The win also gave the Phillies a three games to one series victory against the Mets.
Original Story:
http://macho-row.blogspot.com/2009/08...
