gunfight at at&t park

Way out West and deep into the night, a classic duel was waged on Wednesday. Meridian Community College product Cliff Lee of Philadelphia and San Francisco’s Matt Cain hooked up in a battle of aces that ultimately ended in a 1-0 Giants victory in 11 innings. Neither was involved in the decision, which seems absurd. Both had a profound impact on the game at the Giants’ AT&T; Park. Cain went nine, retiring the last 13 he faced. Lee lasted 10, posting seven strikeouts and retiring 12 in a row at one stage. “It doesn’t get any better than what we saw tonight,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy told mlb.com. The Phillies find themselves in last place in the loaded National League East. They’ll have to rely heavily on the arms of Lee, Roy Halladay, Cole Hamels and new closer Jonathan Papelbon, the ex-Mississippi State star, to reach the postseason for a sixth straight year. Left-hander Lee, a former Cy Young Award winner, was 17-8 with a 2.40 ERA in 2011, sort of a down year by his standards. He appears to be back on form, though he doesn’t have a win yet in 2012. P.S. It’ll be interesting to see what happens in Starkville tonight. Mississippi State coach John Cohen has challenged his swooning Bulldogs to be mentally tougher. They’ll send ace Chris Stratton (7-0, 2.98 ERA) to the bump to face Tennessee in a 6:30 game to be televised by ESPNU. If Stratton falters and the Dogs fall in this one … .