Cliff Lee was acquired for this very game. And he delivered.
The southpaw tossed a complete game, struck out five and didn't walk a batter as the Philadelphia Phillies defeated the Colorado Rockies 5-1 in Game 1 of the National League Division Series at Citizens Bank Park.
Lee, the former Cleveland Indian, was traded to Philadelphia on July 29th and has been everything the Phillies could have asked for. During the regular season, Lee was 7-4 with a 3.39 ERA with the Phillies and has been an integral part of the team's sucess in the second half. The struggles of the bullpen have been a concern for the Phillies, which makes it even more important that the starters go deep into these postseason games. Lee did just that on Wednesday in the first postseason game of his career.
Colorado managed to put a run on the board in the ninth after Lee had shut them out for the first 8 2/3 innings. Troy Tulowitzki's double to right field scored Carlos Gonzalez and broke up the shutout bid.
Early on, it appeared Lee would have no room for error as Rockies' ace Ubaldo Jimenez was excellent as well for the first four innings, but was finally touched up in the fifth after struggling with his control. After walking Jayson Werth, fan favorite Raul Ibanez lined a double past Todd Helton and down the right field line. Werth scored easily and the Phillies led 1-0. After a groundout by Pedro Feliz moved Ibanez to third, Carlos Ruiz ended a long at-bat by knocking an RBI single into right. The ball bounced past the right fielder Gonzalez, allowing Ruiz to reach second base on the play. Jimenez was able to limit the damage after a 30-plus pitch inning and the Phillies led 2-0.
Jimenez didn't last much longer. He was knocked out of the game in the sixth inning after an RBI double off the right field wall by Ryan Howard, and an RBI triple off the bat of Werth made the score 4-0. Jimenez was relieved by Joe Beimel, who didn't do much better. On the second pitch Beimel delivered, Ibanez placed a single into right, scoring Werth and closing the books on Jimenez's day. The talented right-hander went 5-plus innings, giving up five earned runs on nine hits, while striking out three.
The Rockies overcame two bad calls early on in the game. The first one cut short a Colorado rally in the top of the second inning. After Yorvit Torreabla led off the second inning with a double, Brad Hawpe flied out to shallow center. Trying to make something happen, Torreabla then tagged up on a Clint Barmes flyout to right, but was gunned down at third. As soon as the play was over, Torreabla was in disagreement with the call. Replay would later show that the umpire had blown the call.
The second questionable call came on a pick off play by Jimenez in the bottom of the third. Lee, who had inexcusably stolen second base on the previous pitch, appeared to be picked off, but the umpire saw something different and called him safe. Colorado manager Jim Tracy came out to argue, obviously perturbed by the second straight call to go against his club.
The Phillies, who were swept by the Rockies in the 2007 NLDS, give the ball to Cole Hamels (10-11, 4.32ERA) for Game 2. The left-hander is the reigning World Series MVP, but hasn't had one of his better seasons. He can put that all behind him with a solid start Thursday afternoon. Colorado will counter with Aaron Cook (11-6, 4.16 ERA). First pitch is scheduled for 2:37 EDT.
Shawn Marosek
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