take that

Cliff Lee’s numbers from Thursday night’s start imply dominance. (On Sirius/XM radio, he sounded dominant, and the MLB Network highlights today confirmed that.) The left-hander out of Meridian Community College hurled his fifth shutout of the season for Philadelphia, beating San Francisco 3-0. He allowed just seven hits, struck out eight and walked none. The Giants were 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position. That’s the kind of effort the Phillies were paying for when they gave Lee a 5-year, $120 million dollar deal in the off-season. For the year, Lee is 11-7 with a 2.96 ERA. He’s had some rough spots, but when he’s on, as he was Thursday, he’s an artist. Still hard to fathom how he lost twice to the Giants while pitching for Texas in the World Series last fall. Thursday night might have been a little payback, though the real test will come if these teams meet in the postseason, which is a strong possibility.