Flags were blowing, towels were waving on a windy day in Philadelphia for Game 1 of the NLDS between the Rockies and the Phillies.Cliff Lee was terrific, throwing a complete game in his first postseason performance. He missed a shutout only in the 9th, when, he later admitted, he got seduced by the atmosphere in the park and, with two outs, allowed a run. It was the largest crowd (46,643) ever at Citizens Bank Park. In the ninth, the rally towels were whipping around and the park was rocking with chants of "Let's Go, Lee!" It was awesome on a day of brilliant sunshine and winds gusting upwards of 40 mph. The wind was fierce; even driving down to the ballpark was an adventure.
Lee's performance yesterday reminded me of the first time I saw him in person, in his Phillies' debut in San Francisco. Both games had easy tempos to them, and Lee was a complete player in both. Yesterday he gave up one run on six hits, with five strike-outs and no walks. He threw 113 pitches, including 25 first-pitch strikes. He also singled, sacrificed, and stole a base. The Rockies had a small chance in the first and second innings, when they got three of their six hits. They did not, however, score. After that Lee set down 16 Rockies in a row.
Rockie starter Ubaldo Jimenez, a fabulous talent, was almost as good. I was impressed just watching him through warm-up tosses in the outfield before the game! Through the first innings the big right-hander threw just 46 pitches, relying on his blistering fastball, which was routinely at 98 and several times touched 100, and a great curve. In the 5th, though, Jayson Werth worked a walk and once on base proved a distraction that Jimenez could not overcome. The next batter, Ibanez, doubled Werth home. Carlos Ruiz eventually brought Ibanez in to give the Phillies a 2-0 lead. Jimenez needed 35 pitches to finish the inning.
The Phillies added three more runs in the sixth for a 5-0 lead. Everyone in the line-up, inlcuding the pitcher, had at least one hit. Howard, Werth, and Ibanez had two each.
Because of the wind, everyone expected balls to be flying out of the park. Instead they were swirling high in the air, making the fielders shuffle and jitter to make catches. Jimmy Rollins made an outstanding catch on a pop-up to third.
It was a great game.
