Cliff Lee struggled mightily on Friday night. His atrocious month of June -- 22 earned runs in 32.1 IP in June 2012 vs. 1 earned run in 42 IP in June 2011 (!) -- mercifully came to an end. One can only hope he somehow turns it around going forward, but there's no signs of it. There aren't signs of much, really.
"I don’t know," Charlie Manuel said after the game when asked what he sees wrong with Lee. "I watch him and the stuff looks good. They’re just hitting him. I don’t know. It’s hard to figure out."
It is hard to figure out. And it's not very fun to watch any longer.
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Last night was particularly frustrating. The kind of game if you happen to be watching on a Friday night that begs you to flip the channel midway through to some other bad television programming. I'd argue today's game is worth missing to go outside and enjoy the weather, but enjoying a couch in a fully-blasted air-conditioned apartment is probably a more enjoyable decision. Plus, Cole Hamels is pretty cool lately.
Hamels (10-3, 3.03) will take on Mark Buehrle (6-8, 3.55) in the closed roof of the Miami Marlins new ballpark.
The Phils are currently a season-worst seven games under .500 and sit 10 games behind the nationals in the East. What is your level of hope that this team can make the post season at this point? High? Some? Minimal? I'd probably lean towards the "some hope," mostly just because there's so much season left to play. But it's not a whole lot.
It's an early 4:10 start today from Miami. Here's today's Phillies lineup: