Phillies Nation Perfect Season: Lee blanks Boston, tosses third straight complete-game shutout

Phillies 5, Red Sox 0

On this day in 2011, Phillies left-hander Cliff Lee earned his fifth straight victory after tossing his third consecutive complete-game shutout.

Heading into the Phils’ match-up with the Red Sox, Lee had allowed just one run over his previous 33 innings, lowering his season ERA to 2.87. After another complete-game shutout against Boston, Lee’s ERA sunk to 2.66, the best in the National League.

The Phillies scored two runs in the second, added one more in the fifth and tacked on two in the sixth. It took until the sixth inning for Boston to break into the hit column, with Lee issuing just one walk up to that point. He struck out five through nine innings.

In the second inning, Ryan Howard led things off with a single off of Red Sox starter Josh Beckett. Shane Victorino reached on a force out and then advanced to second on an errant pickoff throw from Beckett. After Beckett got Raul Ibanez to strike out looking, Domonic Brown launched a two-out, two-run homer to put the Phillies up early.

In the bottom half of the fifth, Brown got his second hit of the game with a lead-off double. He advanced to third on a flyout by Carlos Ruiz. Lee plated Brown with a sacrifice fly to increase the lead to 3-0.

Placido Polanco singled to start things off in the sixth. Three batters later, Victorino belted a two-run homer to make it a 5-0 ballgame.

Lee surrendered just one hit the rest of the way, a double to Darnell McDonald in the eighth. Otherwise, the southpaw set the Red Sox down in order during the seventh and ninth innings.

Phillies Lineup

1. Jimmy Rollins, shortstop
2. Placido Polanco, third base
3. Chase Utley, second base
4. Ryan Howard, first base
5. Shane Victorino, center field
6. Raul Ibanez, left field
7. Domonic Brown, right field
8. Carlos Ruiz, catcher
9. Cliff Lee, pitcher

Red Sox Lineup

1. Jacoby Ellsbury, center field
2. Dustin Pedroia, second base
3. Adrian Gonzalez, first base
4. Kevin Youkilis, third base
5. Darnell McDonald, left field
6. Jason Varitek, catch
7. Mike Cameron, right field
8. Marco Scutaro, shortstop
9. Josh Beckett, pitcher

You can watch the full game down below or by using this link. You can also watch it on your Smart TV or streaming device with the YouTube app. Just put in “BOS AT PHI – June 28, 2011” into the search bar and click on the video.

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