Monday’s Best Mound Matchup
By Covers.com
Lee vs. Jimenez
Cliff Lee (14-13, 3.22 ERA), Philadelphia Phillies
The Phillies trade for this lefty worked out fantastically in the regular season and it pay dividends in his first postseason start.
Lee allowed just one run in a complete game win over Colorado last Wednesday. He also struck out five batters and didn’t allow a single walk.
“He was aggressive, he had good tempo and rhythm and he handled the whole flow of the game real good,” Philly manager Charlie Manuel said after the game.
Philly backers still haven’t forgotten his last month plus of the regular season. Lee was shaky in losses to the Astros and Milwaukee to close out the year and carried a 6.81 ERA over his last seven starts.
Ubaldo Jimenez (15-12, 3.47), Colorado Rockies
The Rockies ace was on a roll in Game 1 of the series before running into trouble in the middle innings.
“Up until the fifth, it was one of the better games he had pitched over the course of month,” Colorado manager Jim Tracy told reporters. “He was really, really on his game into the fifth. He had all his stuff.”
Jimenez was steady in two of his three postseason starts in 2007. He allowed just two runs combined in starts against the Phils and Diamondbacks before the Red Sox knocked him out after just 4 2-3 innings in his lone World Series appearance.
Philadelphia (2-1) at Colorado (1-2)
The Phillies send left-hander Cliff Lee (7-4, 3.39 ERA) to the mound at Coors Field in Denver looking for the NLDS clincher against the Rockies, who turn to ace Ubaldo Jimenez (15-12, 3.47) in Game 4 of this best-of-5 series.
Philadelphia’s Ryan Howard delivered a ninth-inning sacrifice fly in Game 3 and Brad Lidge closed out the Rockies in the bottom of the ninth to give the Phillies a 2-1 lead in this series. Philadelphia, which is looking to return to the National League Championship Series for the second straight year, is on several hot streaks, including 9-2 against the N.L. West, 20-7 in the fourth game of a series, 19-7 on Mondays and 8-2 in playoff contests.
Colorado is on positive runs of 42-17 at home, 7-3 against the N.L. East and 16-6 at home against left-handed starters. The Rockies have also won four of their last six divisional playoff games (all against Philadelphia), but overall, they’ve now dropped six of their last seven in the postseason.
The Phillies are 6-3 against the Rockies this season (3-1 in Colorado), and since getting swept by the Rockies in the 2007 NLDS, Philadelphia has won 11 of 14 in this rivalry (five of six at Coors Field).
The Phillies are 9-4 in Lee’s 13 starts with the club, including 5-2 in his road outings and 4-0 when he’s started against N.L. West teams. He was magnificent in Game 1 on Wednesday, throwing a complete-game, six-hitter, allowing just one ninth-inning run while striking out five and not walking a batter in Philadelphia’s 5-1 victory. Lee’s made now two career starts against Colorado, allowing a combined two runs on 12 hits in 16 innings of work, striking out 14 and walking one. Including his time with Cleveland this season, Lee was 8-5 on the road in 2009 with a 3.57 ERA.
Jimenez was opposite Lee in Game 1, and he gave up five runs on nine hits in five innings in getting tagged with the loss. It’s been rough going for Jimenez in his career against Philadelphia as he’s allowed 17 runs on 28 hits in his last 14 innings of work against the Phils, losing all three games over the last two seasons.
Jimenez’s lone strong outing against the Phillies came at Coors in the 2007 NLDS when he held them to one run on three hits over 6 1/3 innings as the Rockies eliminated Philadelphia with a 2-1 win in Game 3. Jimenez was 8-5 at home this season with a 3.34 ERA, and for his career he’s 18-12 at Coors with a 3.41 ERA.
For Philadelphia, the over is on runs of 11-2-1 overall and 6-0 on the road. However, in the playoffs, the Phillies are on “under” streaks of 5-3-1 overall, 6-3 on the road and 6-2 in the divisional round. With Lee on the mound, Philly has stayed below the total in five of six against winning teams.
Colorado has topped the total in five of six at home, but the Rockies are on a plethora of “under” streaks with Jimenez on the hill, including 18-7-1 overall, 9-1 at home, 9-2 when he faces N.L. East squads and 26-10 when he gets four days of rest.
Finally, with Sunday’s game soaring past the total, the “over” has now been the play in 10 of 14 matchups between these teams since the beginning of last season, with the last six at Coors Field topping the posted number.
ATS ADVANTAGE: NONE