My seat last night was in the second row from the top just off of home plate. On a frigid evening, it afforded a great if distant view of Cliff Lee.The best sign last night at the ballpark was held by a strapping fellow wearing a blonde wig with pigtails. It read: "Cliff, will you marry me?" I second the emotion.
Cliff Lee was fabulous, throwing eight scoreless innings in an 11-0 pasting of the Dodgers. He struck out 10 and walked none. Only one Dodger made it to second base all night. The Phillies, on the other hand, jumped on starter Hiroki Kuroda early and drove him from the game in the second. Ryan Howard led the attack with a two-run triple to right. Jayson Werth followed with a two-run homer to deep center. Once Shane Victorino reached base in the 1st, Kuroda was obviously out of sorts.
The Dodger bullpen took over in the 2nd but the Phillies kept hitting. By the 5th inning, every position player had scored a run. Lee got into the act in the 8th with a single; he later scored on a Victorino three-run homer. Chad Durbin finished the shutout in the 9th on a terrific catch by Carlos Ruiz. Senor Octubre was again on his postseason game. So was Ryan Howard, who now has ridiculous postseason numbers.
It was a cold night but the 'Zen was rocking. Manny Ramirez drew the ire of the crowd in his last at bat by stepping repeatedly out of the box and otherwise trying to disrupt Lee's pitching. That's when a wave of chants swept through the park: You took steroids, you took steroids. I doubt that Ramirez even noticed but it was funny.
A Hot Corner was set up on the third base side of the park, selling tomato bisque, chicken soup with wild rice, grilled cheese sandwiches, hot cider, and other treats. I had brought food but stopped for a cup of the tomato bisque--delicious, full-bodied heat. Business was brisk.
