Major League Baseball

Lee hopes to repeat magic;Last year as a Phil, he beat the Yankees twice. He faces Pettitte in Game

Published Oct. 18, 2010 10:11 a.m. ET

share

facebookxredditlink

foxsports

ARLINGTON, Texas - Texas Rangers lefthander Cliff Lee returns to the postseason in Yankee Stadium on Monday, hoping to duplicate one of the greatest performances in Phillies history.

The American League Championship Series resumes in New York with the Rangers and Yankees tied at one game apiece. Lee will face Yankees lefthander Andy Pettitte in the first of three games at Yankee Stadium.

"It's 1-1 and basically turns into a five-game series now, and we will go in there and try to take care of business in New York," Lee said in the locker room after Saturday's 7-2 win over the Yankees at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. "That's a good team over there and not the easiest place to play, and it's going to be a good challenge and a lot of fun."

Maybe not so much fun for the hitters facing Lee.

Last year with the Phillies, Lee opened the World Series in the same venue, pitching a gem of a game that gave the visitors a too-brief jolt of momentum.

The Phillies won the opener, 6-1, and Lee pitched a complete game, allowing one unearned run on six hits. He struck out 10 and didn't walk a batter.

"That was a day I was locating my pitches, staying away from the heart of the plate, working ahead in the count, not walking guys," Lee said. "Those were the [keys] to being successful and that is what I will try to do again."

Lee is not one to look back, and he doesn't seem to get outwardly excited, even about one spectacular postseason outing after another. But he knew that this was a special performance, especially considering the environment and the team, both unforgiving to opponent.

"Obviously, that game, a lot of things went my way," Lee said. "It was a good game."

That's an understatement, especially when hearing what the Yankees had to deal with.

"It was one of the most dominating pitching performances I have ever been part of," Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira recalled, "when you go up and face a pitcher and after the first at-bat you say, 'Man, it's going to be a tough night.' "

Teixeira kept looking to hit a mistake. He's still looking.

"The entire game, he didn't give me a pitch to hit," said Teixeira, who was 0 for 4 with two strikeouts. "The mark of a good pitcher is when he can hit his spots all night long, and with as good as his stuff was, we knew it was going to be a long night."

Lee threw 122 pitches that night, 80 for strikes.

His two outings that helped the Rangers earn the American League division series victory over Tampa Bay were equally impressive.

In winning Games 1 and 5 against the Rays, Lee went 2-0 with a 1.13 ERA, 21 strikeouts, and zero walks.

"The guy's command is off the charts," Rangers second baseman Ian Kinsler said. "I haven't seen anybody throw the ball where they want to as consistently as Cliff has."

Lee has said countless times that he never wanted to leave the Phillies after his trade to the Seattle Mariners.

He said he follows the progress of the Phillies and the other teams he has pitched for, Seattle and the Cleveland Indians.

"I wasn't really happy about being traded by the Phillies because I enjoyed my teammates," Lee said. "A lot of good things were going on there and I wanted to be part of that."

Yet Lee, who will be a free agent after the season, realizes that baseball is a business. For the second straight year, he's been the in-season acquisition, a hired hand to pitch a team deep into the postseason.

Contact staff writer Marc Narducci at 856-779-3225

or mnarducci@phillynews.com.

share

Get more from Major League Baseball Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more

in this topic

Major League Baseball