Cliff Lee blows 4-0 lead, chased in seventh
Staked to a 3-0 lead in the first and a 4-0 lead after two, Cliff Lee should have been money in the bank in Game 2 of the NLDS. He wasn't.
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A huge part of the excitement when Cliff Lee signed with the Phillies in December was fueled by the memory of what he did in the 2009 playoffs. Lee was 4-0 with a 1.56 ERA in that postseason, which ended with a loss to the Yankees in six games of the World Series.
Lee didn't flash the 2009 dominance in Sunday night's Game 2. In fact, he was rather pedestrian. In his six-plus innings, the Cardinals put the lead-off hitter on four times in seven opportunities. In other words, he was fighting himself all night.
He exited with the Cardinals up 5-4 with runners on the corners and none out. Brad Lidge relieved him. Albert Pujols, whom Lee had tied in knots in his first three ABs, knocked in the go-ahead run with a solid single that followed Allen Craig's triple.
Lee gave up a career-worst 12 hits in his six-plus frames.