By Justin Worsley,
Cliff Lee bounced back from a poor outing against the Atlanta Braves and allowed only three hits while striking out 12 batters in the Philadelphia Phillies 4-0 win over the Washington Nationals.
Lee (2-1) and Nationals ace Jordan Zimmermann battled one another as only one hit, a double by Danny Espinosa, was allowed by either pitcher through the first five innings.
Zimmermann (1-2) actually had the Nationals bidding for a perfect game until he began to fall apart in the sixth inning. Carlos Ruiz took an 0-1 pitch deep to left field for his second home run of the year to give Philadelphia not only their first hit, but a 1-0 lead.
Philadelphia (9-3) would score again that inning when Placido Polanco reached on an infield single. Shane Victorino crossed home plate after John Hairston Jr. made a wild throw to try to get the out against Polanco. Washington (5-7) recorded six total errors in the three game series.
Zimmermann was pulled in the eighth inning after the Espinosa committed his second error of the game, a fielding error on a bunt by Lee to load the bases. Drew Storen came in, but allowed back-to-back singles by Polanco and Jimmy Rollins to bring in two more runs.
Unlike Roy Halladay's performance the night before, Lee was able to shut down the Nationals offense in the ninth inning. Jesus Flores found a gap in the outfield to get the lead off single, but then Lee retired the rest of the side, ending the game with former Phillie Jayson Werth grounding into a fielder's choice.
Rollins' RBI in the eighth inning was the first one of the year for him. Ryan Howard and Ben Francisco combined to go 0-8. Werth went a combines 3-for-11 with four strikeouts and a home run in his first series against the Phillies.
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