Cliff Lee, well-rounded individual.
On the mound, he was as sharp as ever, striking out 14 over eight innings in the Phillies 12-2 win over the Miami Marlins. With those strikeouts, Lee reached the 200-strikeout plateau for the third consecutive season.
At the plate, Lee went 3-for-4, a triple included, with a career high four RBI. He’s the first Phillies pitcher to knock in four runs in a game since Robert Person in 2002.
Lee is also the one of just five pitchers in the last 30 years to have three or more hits and four or more RBI in a game. The others: Dwight Gooden ’85, Kirk Rueter ’00, Bronson Arroyo ’06, Micah Owings ’07. And none of them happened to strike out 14 batters.
Basically everyone else wearing red followed Cliff’s lead. Chase Utley hit a three-run homer and Darin Ruf also went yard. For Utley, that was number 17. For Ruf, number 14. It’ll be interesting to see what happens with Ruf this offseason. The power is clearly there, but can he do that over 600 at-bats at the major league level? He continues to impress.
What’s most impressive is how Lee just keeps on going. It was one of the most complete performances of the season by a pitcher
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