Phillies' Lee K's 12, shuts out Nationals
Consider the past two games Exhibits 1 and 1A for why the Philadelphia Phillies assembled their ace-after-ace starting rotation.
Cliff Lee produced a 12-strikeout, three-hit shutout in a 4-0 victory over the Washington Nationals Thursday night, a day after Roy Halladay went nine innings to win, too, giving the Phillies consecutive complete games for the first time since 1999.
"I want to throw nine innings every time I take the mound. That's that," said Lee (2-1), who walked one batter and went to three-ball counts on only two others. "I hope Roy does it every day before me, too, but that's what I'm going to try to do. Just because he threw a complete game it isn't like, 'Oh, I've got to do that, too.' "
Pretty nice when it works out that way, though, especially in this age of protected arms, scrutinized pitch counts and relief specialists.
"I want to be a guy who throws complete games every time," Lee said. "That's not really realistic, but going into each game, that's what I'm trying to do."
Didn't come close his previous time on a mound, in Atlanta last Friday, when Lee allowed six runs and 10 hits in 3 1/3 innings -- his shortest start since Sept. 4, 2009.
Lee faced 30 batters, three over the minimum, while recording his 21st complete game and sixth shutout. He fell one strikeout shy of his career high.
Jordan Zimmermann (1-2), who was perfect through five innings, pitched seven innings and was the hard-luck loser. -- AP
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