Lee's complete-game win includes rare feat

PHILADELPHIA – Despite the dozens of hours the Colorado Rockies spent scouting the Philadelphia Phillies prior to the National League playoffs, Phillies pitcher Cliff Lee(notes) still proved capable of springing a surprise.

It had nothing to do with his pitching. Lee lived up to his Cy Young Award credentials in his postseason debut, setting down 16 Rockies in a row en route to a 5-1 complete-game win in Game 1 of their best-of-five National League Division Series in Citizens Bank Park.

But no one had any reason to suspect Lee would take off from first base after his two-out single off Rockies ace Ubaldo Jimenez(notes) in the third inning. Lee had never attempted a stolen base in 68 previous plate appearances in his career, but upon seeing that Rockies first baseman Todd Helton(notes) was not holding him on base, and on the advice of first-base coach Davey Lopes, he made his break.

He arrived at second base without drawing a throw. "Legion ball, maybe,'' Lee said when asked when he'd last tried to steal. "By no means was I out there thinking I was going to steal a base.''

He became just the fourth pitcher in big league history to steal a base in the postseason, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

"I'm thinking, 'What the hell is he doing?' '' said Phillies manager Charlie Manuel, though he admitted to being mollified when Lee told him he'd been prompted to go by Lopes.

"You didn't think he stole it on his own, did you?'' Lopes said afterward, scoffing. "Once I saw they weren't holding him on and I saw what Jimenez was doing, I just went up and told him to look for this, a certain thing he was doing that telegraphs when he goes to the plate. I said, 'If they do it again, go ahead and go.' He said, 'OK.' "

John Smoltz(notes), then with Atlanta, was the last pitcher to steal a base in the postseason, in Game 2 of the 1995 NLCS against Cincinnati. Smoltz also was credited with a stolen base in Game 4 of the NLCS in 1992 against the Pirates, and Game 3 of the NLCS in 1991, also against the Pirates.

The other two pitchers with stolen bases did so in the World Series, Brooklyn's Billy Loes in Game 6 of the '52 Series against the Yankees, and Detroit's Bill Donovan in Game 5 of the 1908 World Series against the Cubs.

"I knew it wouldn't be many,'' said Lopes, who twice led the NL in steals with the Dodgers in the mid-70s and ranks 25th on the all-time list with 557, not including the 20 he stole in the postseason.

."But in a series as short as this is, and the way that kid (Jimenez) can pitch over there, everything is important. You get yourself in scoring position, score a run, that might be the difference between winning and losing the ballgame, winning and losing a playoff.''

Lee, perhaps emboldened, took a good lead off second base prior to the next pitch and narrowly averted being picked off by Jimenez, who whirled and threw to shortstop Troy Tulowitzki(notes) after he'd slipped undetected behind Lee. Second base umpire Jerry Meals ruled that Lee, who did not slide, tiptoed back onto the bag just before Tulowitzki applied the tag.

Lee's derring-do did not result in a run, but reflected the aggressive way the Phillies went about dismantling the Rockies, who had swept Philadelphia in the first round in 2007. They stole four bases, including one by Chase Utley(notes) after his leadoff single in the Phillies' three-run sixth.

The Rockies also showed Lee more respect the next time he reached base, with Helton holding him after his fielder's choice in the fifth. Had Helton been playing off the bag, he probably would have had a play on Jimmy Rollins'(notes) ground-ball single through the right side.

"They held him on and opened up a hole for Jimmy – I notice a little bit,'' Lopes said with a laugh.

The Phillies, held to three singles through the first four innings by Jimenez and unable to exploit gusty winds that had the dozen flags in center field flapping wildly in unison toward right, broke a scoreless tie with two runs in the fifth, and went single, double and triple to break it open in the sixth.

Lee did the rest, justifying his selection by Manuel to open the series and leaving the Rockies facing the disheartening prospect of having to beat another left-hander, 2008 World Series MVP Cole Hamels(notes), to avoid going home to Denver down two games to none.

Hamels smiled when asked what he thought when he saw Lee head for second.

"He was just catching up to me,'' said Hamels, who wasn't bashful about the fact he'd gotten his first career stolen base in a September game this season, against the Giants.

If Hamels can pitch like Lee did Wednesday before the largest crowd in the history of the ballpark (46,452), the Rockies will be the ones on the run.

Colorado had two singles off Lee in the first, but Garrett Atkins(notes) flied out on a high changeup to end the inning. Yorvit Torrealba(notes) opened the second with a double, but was cut down at third by right-fielder Jayson Werth(notes) trying to advance on Clint Barmes'(notes) fly ball for an inning-ending double play.

"Between the wind and the sun in right field,'' Werth said, "it was probably the toughest day defensively in Philly that I've seen.''

Lee did not allow another baserunner after Torrealba's double until Atkins dropped a fly-ball double into the right-field corner with two outs in the seventh. He did not walk a batter, went to just three three-ball counts and threw first-pitch strikes to 24 of 32 batters.

One out away from putting the final touches on a potential shutout, the full house waving their white towels and chanting, "Let's go Lee,'' the pitcher said he allowed himself a brief moment to savor the scene.

"It was right before I gave up that double in the gap (to Tulowitzki),'' said Lee, who lost his shutout on that hit, "so I wish I wouldn't have done that.

"I wanted to give myself a chance to really absorb it and take it all in. Maybe it cost me a run, but we still won, so that's the bottom line.''