Dodgers drubbed: Lee guides Phillies to 2-1 series lead
The former Indians pitcher provided another brilliant playoff start, striking out 10 and allowing only three hits in eight innings.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Cliff Lee dominated the Dodgers, Ryan Howard and Jayson Werth provided the big swings early and the Philadelphia Phillies cruised past Los Angeles 11-0 Sunday night for a 2-1 lead in the NL championship series.
Lee provided another brilliant playoff start, striking out 10 and allowing only three hits in eight innings.
Howard hustled for a triple, Werth homered and the Phillies led 6-0 by the second inning. Howard made two headfirst dives during the romp — the big slugger has an RBI in all seven of Philadelphia’s playoff games this year, a record streak in a single postseason.
Coming off the most-lopsided win in their postseason history, the defending World Series champion Phillies will try to move closer to a return in Game 4 tonight. Joe Blanton starts against the Dodgers’ Randy Wolf, who hasn’t pitched since the opener of the division series against St. Louis.
Howard had three RBIs, including his two-run triple in the first. Werth followed that with a two-run homer, and that was more than enough for Lee.
The reigning AL Cy Young Award winner faced just two batters over the minimum. Lee gave up a pair of singles to Manny Ramirez and one to Ronnie Belliard.
Lee hit a single in the eighth and scored on Shane Victorino’s three-run homer. Chad Durbin relieved to begin the ninth and pitched a hitless inning.
Lee is 2-0 with an 0.74 ERA in three postseason starts, giving the Phillies exactly what they expected when they acquired him from Cleveland in late July.
After wasting a brilliant performance by Pedro Martinez in Game 2, the Phillies jumped on Dodgers starter Hiroki Kuroda right from the start.
On a brisk 46-degree night — almost half the temperature at Dodger Stadium for Game 3 Friday — Philadelphia’s hitters had no trouble swinging hot bats. Every starter except Raul Ibanez had a hit and all nine starters scored a run.
Victorino’s home run to deep right field put an emphatic exclamation mark on the rout. The shot also made the Phillies the city’s highest-scoring team of the day — the Eagles lost 13-9 to the Oakland Raiders.