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The Phillies blew a golden chance to take a commanding lead in the National League Division Series against the St. Louis Cardinals, and Cliff Lee took full responsibility for that.
We had a four-run lead and I let it slip away, a dejected Lee said after the Phillies suffered a 5-4 loss to the Cardinals in Game 2 (see game breakdown).
The largest crowd ever at Citizens Bank Park46,575erupted in joy when the Phillies scored three runs in the first inning against Cardinals ace Chris Carpenter. The crowd kept on rocking as the Phils built their lead to 4-0 in the second.
Lee was coming off a month of September in which he had a 1.42 ERA in five starts. Before that, he had an 0.45 ERA in five August starts. Giving this guy a 4-0 lead was like money in the bank. Too bad it ended up being counterfeit money.
I take full responsibility, Lee said. Anytime I have a four-run lead in the first two innings I feel I should win it and I didnt do that.
The best-of-five series is tied at a game apiece heading into Mondays off day. The series resumes Tuesday in St. Louis with a pair of lefties, Cole Hamels and Jaime Garcia, set to pitch.
MLB
Tony La Russa, manager of the underdog Cardinals, got his wish: He came to Philadelphia, got a win, and now takes the series back to St. Louis for the next two games.
La Russa (see Gonzo's column) is angling for a fifth and deciding game back in Philadelphia on Friday night. If that comes to pass, both teams would send their respective aces to the mound -- Chris Carpenter for St. Louis and Roy Halladay for the Phillies. Both pitchers have won Cy Young Awards.
I said before we came here I hoped it comes down to Halladay and Carpenter, La Russa said. I mean, that would be an experience of a lifetime for any of us.
Were making this a series, which is fun, exciting. Its fun to play against these guys.
It wasnt fun for the Cardinals in the first two innings. They got a leadoff triple and a leadoff double in the first and second innings, respectively, against Lee and both times came away with nothing.
Meanwhile, the Phils scored four times against Carpenter, who was pitching on short rest for the first time in his career, in the first two innings. La Russa used Carpenter on three days rest because he wanted to have the option of using his best pitcher twice in the series.
You have to prove to your team that youre going to take your best shot, La Russa said.
Carpenter lasted just three innings. The Phillies were thrilled about driving him from the game early and getting into the Cardinals bullpen, which has been the teams most inconsistent area (see story).
The Phils, however, did nothing against the Cards bullpen. Six relievers combined on six scoreless innings.
We felt real good about ourselves, manager Charlie Manuel said. We got Carpenter out of the game and got into their bullpen. But their bullpen held us. When we score four runs early like that and get into their bullpen, I was thinking wed score some more.
The Phils had six hits in the game. Five of them came in the first two innings. The Phils went 15 at-bats from the second to the seventh inning without a hit.
The Cardinals did all the rest of the scoring, getting three against Lee in the fourth, one in the sixth and one in the seventh.
Lees 12 hits allowed matched a career-high. Three of those hits came with two outs in the sixth when St. Louis rallied for the tying run.
You have to give their hitters a lot of credit, he said. When I give up 12 hits, Im not happy with that.
There was a lot of complaining about home plate umpire Jerry Meals strike zone from both dugouts. La Russa criticized Meals during an in-game television interview, and Ryan Madson directed a few words Meals way in the ninth inning. Tensions had calmed after the game. Both teams realize they are now in a best-of-three series. Best to focus on baseball.
We still feel good about this, Phillies reliever Brad Lidge said. We still have Cole, Roy Oswalt and Doc Halladay again.
You want to win every game, but the other team is here because theyre good, too. The postseason is not easy. But we still feel good about where we are.
E-mail Jim Salisbury at jsalisbury@comcastsportsnet.com