Phillies Nation Perfect Season: Lee fans 9, Phils move into tie for second

Every day until Opening Day arrives, Phillies Nation will take a daily look back at a regular season victory from that particular day in history that you can watch in full in lieu of live Phillies baseball. Think of it is as your daily Phillies watch recommendation.

Phillies 4, Nationals 2

On this day in 2013, Cliff Lee put together another strong showing to pull the Philadelphia Phillies into a tie for second place with the Washington Nationals in the National League East. Lee’s eight-inning performance of two-run ball earned him his fifth straight winning decision. With his name swirling around trade talk, the southpaw struck out nine and lowered his ERA to 2.53.

The Phillies and Nationals both went down in order during the first through the first three-and-a-half innings, and although the Phils got the first hit, the Nats got the first run. After Lee struck out both Anthony Rendon and Ryan Zimmerman to start the fourth, former Phillie Jayson Werth took him deep for a 1-0 lead.

Philadelphia answered in the bottom half of the inning. Michael Young led things off with a double and Jimmy Rollins moved him to third on a sacrifice bunt. Ryan Howard followed with a sac fly to tie the game at one a piece.

The Phils offense would ultimately give Lee the support he needed, but it took until the sixth for him to get it. Ben Revere started things off with a bunt single. Michael Young hit his second double of the game to plate Revere, which gave the Phillies a 2-1 lead.

Jimmy Rollins followed with a single to right field and Ryan Howard loaded the bases after getting hit by a pitch. Delmon Young and Domonic Brown struck out with ducks on the pond, but luckily Kevin Frandsen came through with two outs, lacing a two-run single to left center to give the Phillies a three-run cushion, 4-1.

Michael Young hit his third double of the game in the seventh, but would get stranded on second. Meanwhile, the Nationals tacked one last run on the board courtesy of a Jeff Kobernus solo homer in the eighth. Lee was able to retire the final two batters during his last inning.

Jonathan Papelbon came on and earned his 14th save of the season in the ninth, allowing one hit.

Phillies Lineup

1. Ben Revere, center field
2. Michael Young, third base
3. Jimmy Rollins, shortstop
4. Ryan Howard, first base
5. Domonic Brown, left field
6. Delmon Young, right field
7. Kevin Frandsen, second base
8. Carlos Ruiz, catcher
9. Cliff Lee, pitcher

Nationals Lineup

1. Denard Span, center field
2. Anthony Rendon, second base
3. Ryan Zimmerman, third base
4. Jayson Werth, right field
5. Adam LaRoche, first base
6. Ian Desmond, shortstop
7. Kurt Suzuki, catcher
8. Steve Lombardozzi, left field
9. Ross Detwiler, 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 “WAS AT PHI – June 18, 2013” into the search bar and click on the video.

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