Rays have had success against Rangers' Lee

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The Tampa Bay Rays are impressed with, though not intimidated by Cliff Lee's glittering postseason resume.

The AL East champions beat the Texas Rangers ace three times during the regular season and will send 19-game winner David Price to the mound against him today in the opener of the AL playoffs.

"Cliff Lee's one of the top five pitchers in all of baseball. He's done it at this time of the year as well as anybody possibly could," Rays manager Joe Maddon said, alluding to the lefthander's October run with Philadelphia in 2009.

Acquired from Cleveland at the trade deadline, Lee went 4-0 with a 1.56 ERA in five postseason starts for the Phillies. He was 2-0 with a 2.81 ERA in two starts against the Yankees in last year's World Series. The 32-year-old began this season with the Mariners, who dealt him in early July to Texas, which was looking to bolster its rotation with a No. 1 starter capable of leading the Rangers deep into the postseason.

"He's their anchor . . . They've got that rolling, but I like our first-game guy a lot, too," Maddon said. "He may not have as much experience as Cliff has had at this point, but I think he's right there with him in regards to his stuff and pitch ability right now. Cliff Lee's had that experience, but we've got kind of a special guy, too."