Cliff Lee’s shutout innings help Philadelphia Phillies defeat St. Louis Cardinals 4-0 – MLB Update
Philadelphia Phillies’ starter, Cliff Lee was outstanding with the ball as he threw nine dominant innings with an ERA of 2.87 and struck-out three batters in the Phillies’ 4-0 victory against the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium, St. Louis on June 22.
The Phillies were leading the three-game series 2-0 after this persuasive win.
Both teams were unable to add some runs on the score-board during the first three innings of the game. Jon Jay hit a grounder to second base and Ryan Theriot got out due to his lethargic shot at the bottom of the first inning.
The Phillies’ batters also got out as Ryan Howard was grounded out to first base and Placido Polanco lined out to centre-field at the top of the second inning. In the third inning, Kyle Lohse hit a double-run shot towards left-field but did not able to score
a run and Pete Kozma was grounded out to pitcher.
The Phillies opened their scoring account in the fourth inning by blasting three runs and got a 3-0 lead. Jimmy Rollins struck a solo homer (381 feet) to right-field, Howard hit a one-run homer (387 feet) towards left-field and Chase Utley scored a single
run to end the three-run campaign.
Howard said, “It's home, I think it's a little bit different when a guy gets to go back home and play where it all began. You're just a lot more comfortable, I guess.”
The pitchers raised the momentum of their sides from the fifth to the eighth inning as they did not allow any run to the batters during this span and delivered fastballs in the right areas. The Cardinals’ batters missed the scoring opportunities in the sixth
inning as Theriot was got out at centre-field and Kozma popped out to second base.
Lee gave just six hits without giving any run and walked one on his 126 pitches. He commented on his game and said, “There's total gratification. Every time I want to throw the whole game, there's no doubt about it. I think I could have gone the 10th and
the 11th, too.”
In the ninth inning, Utley hit a sacrifice fly towards left-field and Shane Victorino posted a single run to extend the Phillies’ lead 4-0.
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