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Phillies-Giants Preview

Jul 31, 2009 - 6:40 AM By MATT BECKER STATS Senior Writer

Philadelphia (58-42) at San Francisco (56-46), 10:15 p.m. EDT

Cliff Lee has been dominant since the All-Star break for a team going nowhere. The reigning AL Cy Young Award winner now will be counted on to do the same for a club trying to repeat as World Series champion.

In his NL debut, Lee looks to pick up where he left off before being traded and help the Philadelphia Phillies bounce back from a couple of tough losses Friday night as they face the surging San Francisco Giants.

To strengthen their starting rotation for another title run, the NL East-leading Phillies (58-42) acquired Lee, along with outfielder Ben Francisco, from Cleveland on Wednesday for four minor league prospects.

After going 22-3 with a 2.54 ERA during his Cy Young season last year, Lee went 7-9 with a 3.14 ERA for the Indians this season. This year's subpar record is not entirely his fault, though.

Lee had the AL's sixth-best ERA but received the league's eighth-worst run support average (4.32). The left-hander allowed three runs or fewer in six of his nine losses, but was backed by five total runs of support in those games.

Lee now joins an offense that ranks third in the majors with 539 runs.

"It's a win-win situation. Now I'm playing for the defending world champions. With the offense we've got, it's going to be fun to watch these games and be a part of it," Lee said. "They had a good team and they've still got a good team. All the pieces are back. Hopefully I can help them repeat. That's the ultimate goal."

This high-powered offense, featuring All-Stars Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, Raul Ibanez, Jayson Werth and Shane Victorino, has managed just two runs in losing the last two games after winning 19 of 22. In Thursday's series-opening 7-2 loss to the Giants (56-46), Philadelphia played without Victorino, who rested a bruised left knee that forced him to leave Wednesday's 4-0 loss at Arizona.

Lee comes to the Phillies after winning his final three starts for the Indians, posting a 1.44 ERA with two complete games. In his last appearance in a Cleveland uniform, Lee gave up two runs and six hits in seven innings of Sunday's 12-3 win over Seattle.

While this will be Lee's NL debut - he had spent his entire career with Cleveland - he has had no trouble pitching against the senior circuit in interleague play.

Lee went 12-2 with a 3.18 ERA in 22 games versus the NL - the best interleague winning percentage of any pitcher with at least 12 decisions - and has a 1.20 ERA in winning both career starts against the Giants. In Cleveland's 4-1 win over San Francisco on June 26, 2008, Lee allowed one run and four hits with a career-high 11 strikeouts in eight innings.

"He won the Cy Young for a reason," said Giants first baseman Ryan Garko, who was Lee's teammate before being traded to San Francisco on Monday. "I didn't really want to tell them what I've been seeing. He's been tough. He's going to be one of the best you face."

The wild-card leading Giants have been tough to beat lately, though, especially at AT&T Park.

San Francisco, trying to win five in a row for the first time since April 19-25, is an NL-best 14-3 at home since June 19.

Pablo Sandoval, who had a solo homer and four RBIs in the series opener, has hit .420 (21 for 50) with five home runs and 20 RBIs in 13 home games this month.

Despite all the Giants' recent success, rookie Ryan Sadowski (2-3, 4.81 ERA) has struggled.

After throwing 13 shutout innings in winning his first two major league starts, Sadowski has been tagged for 14 runs over 11 1-3 innings in losing his last three. In Sunday's 4-2 loss to Colorado, the right-hander gave up three runs, five hits and three walks in a season-low 2 2-3 innings.