Texas Rangers pitcher Cliff Lee pitched a great Game 1 of the the ALDS against the Tampa Bay Rays. The only problem is that he quickly took a back seat to Phillies pitcher Roy Halladay. I don’t want to take anything away from Halladay, because his no-hitter was super impressive in his first professional post season game. However, let’s not forget about Cliff Lee and what he did to the Rays.
Lee, simply put, is a winner. He only has one legitimate losing season in his career, and that was in a season that he started on the disabled list and could never really get anything going. He even managed to have winning seasons on some very average Cleveland Indian teams. Only recently has he had a chance to show what he can do in the postseason, and he hasn’t disappointed.
In 2009, with the Philadelphia Phillies, Lee cruised through the postseason with a perfect 4-0 record in five starts. The most impressive thing was his two wins against the New York Yankees in the World Series. Lee gave the Phillies their only two wins of the World Series.
Fast forward one year and Lee gets the first start of the playoffs for his new team, the Texas Rangers, the AL Wild Card winners. This is exactly what the Rangers acquired Lee for and he shined in his first postseason start for them. Lee pitched seven innings, giving up just five hits and one run. He got more than enough run support to win the game and give Texas a huge head start in the series.
If there is one thing about Cliff Lee that we have learned over the past year, it is that he can win in the playoffs. In six career playoff starts now, he is 5-0 with a 1.52 ERA. In his 47.1 innings pitched in playoff baseball, he has struck out 43 batters and only walked five. Halladay deservedly stole the show from Lee on Wednesday, but Lee deserves a lot of respect and credit for his outstanding pitching performance as well.
Be sure to keep an eye on Lee and his impact on this year's playoffs. The Rangers will definitely have a chance in any series if Cliff Lee can pitch three games.
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