lee85Nine innings and nine items to get you going. Ladies and gentleman of the Stew, take a sip of morning Juice.
1. So we meet again: The last time Cliff Lee faced the San Francisco Giants, he watched as Edgar Renteria's home run sailed over the Rangers Ballpark wall in a World Series clinching victory.
But if you were expecting Lee to bite on a theme of revenge as he faced San Francisco in a Philadelphia Phillies uniform on Thursday night, forget about it.
"That's in the past," Lee said.
Instead of talking about retribution, the even-keeled lefty does what he usually does best: Mow down hitters in the here and now. Lee threw his fifth shutout of the year in a 3-0 win at AT&T Park, striking out eight (including a golden sombrero for Cody Ross) and walking none. The effort overshadowed a solid performance from Giants starter Madison Bumgarner — two runs and nine strikeouts over eight innings — as the NLCS rematch kicked off by the Bay. The Phillies have won seven straight games and haven't lost since trading for Hunter Pence.
2. Pittsburgh's plunge: Corrections suck. As Wall Street gets a hard dose of reality, the same is happening to the Pittsburgh Pirates after a four-game sweep by the Chicago Cubs. Thursday's series finale — a 7-6 Cubs win that was keyed by a three-run rally in the eighth — was the Pirates' seventh straight loss and dropped the Bucs to a game below .500.
3. Miami mash: The long season might be causing Yadier Molina to crack, but Albert Pujols looked singularly focused against the Florida Marlins. The St. Louis Cardinals superstar overcame a recent 1-for-14 slump to go 3 for 4 with a home run and a double in the Cards' 7-4 win.
4. Halvsies!: Go ahead and affix that stopper label to Justin Masterson. Behind nine strikeouts in six innings, the Cleveland Indians pitcher forced a series split with the Boston Red Sox in a 7-3 win at Fenway Park. A loss would have dropped the Tribe to below .500 for the first time since the third game of the season.
5. To the winners go the spoils: It was the same old story on Chicago's South Side as the New York Yankees completed a four-game sweep with a 7-2 win behind 10 strikeouts from Ivan Nova. It was the same old story in the stands, too, as plenty of Yankees fans pushed past the turnstiles at The Cell: {YSP:MORE}
jetergalI really like how she underlined "legal." Double indemnity, Jeets!
6. 0 for Ogando: The Detroit Tigers were 6-0 this season against Texas Rangers pitchers not named Alexi Ogando. Against pitchers named Alexi Ogando, though, they're 0-3 after a 5-2 triumph by the All-Star on Thursday afternoon. Start aligning that ALCS rotation, Jim Leyland!
7. Two more: That lone Twins' tally in the Los Angeles Angels' 7-1 win? Jim Thome's 598th monster mash.
8. Mr. Clutch: From the files of "How the hell did anyone possibly look this up?": Tampa Bay's Robinson Chirinos became the first rookie since Nick Green in 2004 to both tie and win a game in extra innings in the Rays 7-6 win over Toronto.
9. A long-waited arrival: None of the preseason babbling over the Kansas City Royals' bright future expected anything from Alex Gordon. But how good has he been this year? Four hits in Thursday's 9-4 win over Baltimore brought his season average to .311. Not a bad improvement from last year's mark of .215, eh?
