Cliff Lee: October's Very Own

Cliff Lee opened up the ALDS yesterday for the Texas Rangers in Tampa Bay as they faced off the Rays in Game 1. Lee was matched up against Tampa’s ace, David Price. It was set to be an epic pitching duel, but Lee completely dominated leading the Rangers to a 5-1 victory.

Cliff Lee matched his postseason career high of 10 strikeouts, only allowing five hits through seven innings surrendering only one run in the seventh inning to Ben Zorbist who hit a solo shot. Lee started off shaky in the first loading up the bases after giving up singles to Jason Bartlett, Carl Crawford, and Evan Longoria. Lee settled down hit a groove after the shaky start retiring 16 of 17 batters at one stretch.

The Rays have been in an offensive funk the last 10 games dropping six of them, but Lee definitely worked the Rays by getting ahead of the count and having accurate location.

This is the reason the Rangers went and got Lee in the midseason deal because he is a proven pitcher in the postseason. The Philadelphia Phillies did the same thing last season with a midseason deal that landed Lee from the Cleveland Indians. The left-hander helped Philadelphia last postseason taking them all the way to the World Series, and he looks to have the same fortune this year with the Rangers.

Cliff Lee is a proven pitcher in the playoffs and will pay huge dividends for the Rangers this year. With the win today, Lee improves to a 5-0 postseason record in six career starts. Last season, Lee went 4-0 with the Phillies in the playoffs with a nasty 1.56 ERA. Even though the Phillies lost to the Yankees in the World Series, Lee still went 2-0 against the Yanks with a 2.81 ERA.

With a deadly combination of the hitting the Rangers have alongside with great pitching, there is no limit to where these Rangers can go. They have surprised many by making it into the playoffs for the first time since 1999, and I believe they will continue to shock going into late October.

This is just an opinion, so please… Pardon My Bias.