the hot hand

When Cliff Lee is on, he’s very good, about as good as any pitcher in MLB. And of late, the former Meridian Community College standout has been on. Lee — who owns 124 career wins and a Cy Young Award and has worked in two World Series — pitched a sterling seven innings on Wednesday night to beat Miami 3-1, helping Philadelphia win its seventh straight. Over his last six starts, Lee is 3-0 with a 1.73 ERA. For the year, he is 5-7, 3.36 with an amazing 14 no decisions, a reflection of the early season struggles the Phillies endured. But they’re not struggling anymore. At 72-71, the Phils are 3 games out of the second wild card spot. With Lee, Roy Halladay and Cole Hamels at the front of their rotation and ex-Mississippi State star Jonathan Papelbon (34 saves) in the bullpen, this is not a team anyone wants to face in the postseason. Atlanta’s worst nightmare might be meeting Philly in the one-game wild card playoff. P.S. MSU product Paul Maholm finished with an ugly line in the Braves’ 8-2 loss to Milwaukee on Wednesday: 4 1/3 innings, 9 hits, 2 walks, 8 runs (6 earned). But it’s worth noting that he shut the Brewers out for four innings and if Chipper Jones makes a couple of plays at third base, the disastrous fifth could have turned out very different. Now the reeling Braves get Washington at Turner Field this weekend.