the cliff-hanger

This Cliff Lee thing has to be a concern to the Philadelphia Phillies, who have a boatload of them. Lee, the former Meridian Community College standout, could not hold a 5-2 lead in the eighth inning against Toronto on Saturday and is now winless in 11 starts in 2012. The veteran left-hander yielded 12 hits and was charged with five earned runs in a game the Phillies would lose 6-5 in 10. The defending National League East champs are 31-36, in last place, 9 games back. Lee, a 17-game winner in 2011, is 0-3 with a 3.48 ERA. He had some hard luck early in the season, but of late he just has not pitched well. His ERA over his last four starts is well over 4.00. “I can only control what I can control,” Lee told mlb.com, concerning his winless status. “I’m not going to get frustrated.” Maybe not, but Phillies fans certainly are. P.S. Seth Smith, meanwhile, is surging at the plate for Oakland. The Ole Miss product belted his seventh homer on Saturday in a 6-4 win and is batting .406 with three homers and nine RBIs in his last 10 games. … Mississippi State product Mitch Moreland is also hot, batting .281 with two homers and five RBIs in his last 10. The second of those homers, Moreland’s 10th of the season, was a tape-measure blast in Arlington on Friday night. … Tyler Moore, another former MSU first baseman, had another hit for Washington on Saturday and swiped his first bag. He is 7-for-14 since being recalled from Triple-A and is up to .303 for the year. … UM product Chris Coghlan may have run out of chances with Miami. The 2009 rookie of the year was optioned to the minors for the second time this season at midweek. He was in an 0-for-16 slump and is batting .140 for the year.