Complete-“Lee” Dominating

The Phillies bullpen must be getting bored.

For the second straight night Thursday a Phils hurler rifled a complete game at Citizens Bank Park South a.k.a. Nationals Park.

No. 2 ace Cliff Lee used five different pitches to keep the Nats off balance en route to 12-strikeout three-hitter in Washington.

Lee (2-1) needed just 99 pitches (74 strikes) to strike down the Nats.

The lefty’s masterpiece came a day removed from Roy Halladay’s six-hit, nine-strikeout, two-run complete game. Unlike Doc’s performance, the Nats never really got to Lee even in the ninth.

“I want to throw nine innings every time I take the mound. That's that,” Lee told the AP. “I hope Roy does it every day before me, too, but that's what I'm going to try to do. Just because he threw a complete game it isn't like, ‘Oh, I've got to do that, too.’”

The only blemishes on Lee's evening were two singles, a double and a walk.

Lee got all the offense he needed when Carlos Ruiz broke up D.C. starter Jordan Zimmermann’s perfect game with a leadoff homer in the sixth. The Phillies would go on to tag Zimmermann for three more unearned runs.

Jimmy Rollins finally got his first RBI of the season with a n eighth inning single that scored Wilson Valdez.

And for anyone wondering how Jayson Werth (D.C.’s $126-million man) did against his former team, he went 0-for-4 with two Ks. Looks like at least for one night the Phillies investment in Lee far outperformed the Nat’s commitment to Werth.

The 9-3 Phillies return home for three with the Marlins after going 4-2 on their NL East road trip through Atlanta and D.C. Roy Oswalt (2-0) faces off against Javier Vazquez (1-1) Friday night.

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