Lee vs. Gee: Phillies Try to Block Mets Sweep

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Cliff Lee returns from the 15-day disabled list tonight, just in time to attempt to stave off an embarrassing three-game sweep at the hands of the New York Mets -- but can our hero succeed?

Lee failed to pick up a win in his previous three outings this season, a victim of non-existent run support and bullpen woes behind him. It's almost as if he's been fighting a battle at two fronts out there, dueling his own mates while staring down the enemy.

The Phillies managed to score only three runs over Lee's starts, while the pen failed to hold on in extra innings twice. In fact, the last time we saw Clifton, he was being all kinds of awesome for 10 frames of shutout ball, only to watch the game slip away in the 11th, a depressing 1-0 loss in San Francisco.

Lee is 0-1 with a 1.96 ERA, 0.70 WHIP, and 18 Ks. Coincidentally, he picked up the loss against the Mets on April 13, striking out seven over seven, but done in by a pair of long balls. Last season, he was 1-0 with a .064 ERA in two appearances against New York.

Gee-Unit
The Ny Mets squadron will toss Dillon Gee, a righthander working through his second full season in the bigs. He's 2-2 with a 4.50 in 2012, but he's been strong in his last two trips, going win and no decision while lowering his earned run average from 5.21.

Gee has had mixed results when facing the Fightins. He pulled out a W the last time they clashed, allowing nine hits, but holding Philly to two earned over six innings in a 6-3 victory on September 24. However, he got shelled on August 22, accepting responsibility for eight runs in a 10-0 final.

Lifetime, Gee is 2-1 with a 7.85 ERA versus the Phils.

Batter vs. Pitcher
Gee stands a bit better of a chance tonight though, as he's had the most trouble handling Ryan Howard (2 HR, 6 RBI), who obviously remains unavailable.

Among the guys in tonight's lineup, Jimmy Rollins is still batting 1.000 against Gee (3 H, 1 BB), and Shane Victorino has been an all-around terror (.500 OBP, 2 RBI, 1 SB). John Mayberry is the only active member in the clubhouse who has taken Gee deep, a three-run blast for his only hit.

Inside the Box Score: The Month of May-berry?
Speaking of the enigma, after mostly watching baseball in the latter half of April, Mayberry has been seeing more opportunities recently. He's started both games of this series against the Mets, going 3-for-7 with a run and an RBI. For the month of May, Mayberry is 5-for-18 (.278), and has crossed home plate four times while bumping his season average up 20 points to .224.

A sign of things to come? We'll see. Mayberry still has just three extra-base hits and 3 RBI in 2012, with 21 strikeouts to one lousy walk, so the stroke isn't all there yet. We'll see how he progresses.

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