W - Rodriguez (13-9), L - Lee (5-2)
After dominating opponents in his first five outings as a Phillie, Cliff Lee has come down to Earth. Hard. Meanwhile, the Astros' Wandy Rodriguez keeps plugging, as he shut down the Phillies' high powered offense. After dinking and dunking hits off of Lee, the Astros broke the game open with four runs in the second inning. They ended up winning the game by a final of 7-0.
Cliff Lee seemed to have decent command, and yet he surrendered a number of base hits on jam-jobs and broken bats. They all counted, as Lee gave up six earned runs in just three innings pitched. He did strike out three but gave up nine hits, including a homer to Hunter Pence. The Phillie bullpen came in and did a good job keeping the Astros from extending their lead much, but by then the game had been decided.
It was all Wandy Rodriguez on Friday night as he worked mostly unscathed all night. The Phillies rarely threatened for the seven innings he was on the mound, as he scattered seven hits and struck out seven as well. The Astros bullpen came in and finished the job without much trouble. It has to be worrying that the Phillies offense has now scored just 42 runs in their last 14 games (3.0 runs/game).
The Phillies came off an emotional victory at home and did not show up for the game. They were out-pitched and out-hit all night long. With the offense struggling mightily, this is not an encouraging sign, as Cliff Lee got lit up for his second straight start. They will need to get back on track, especially on offense, quickly, otherwise they could see their NL East lead dwindle further from the 7.5 games that it is right now.
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