Cliff Lee Remains Winless, Phillies Remain Listless: Blue Jays Walk Off 6-5

What the hell can be said at this point?  Cliff Lee went into the eighth inning with a reasonably low pitch count and a 5-2 lead.  Lee didn’t record an out in the inning and some more crappy defense helped to tie the game for the Blue Jays.  This team seems to find new and terrifying ways to lose baseball games.

Lee is now entering some historic winless territory.  I refuse to physically look up who has gone the longest to start a season without winning a game because I am pretty certain that it is probably someone who pitched for the Mets.  Apparently Cliff Lee has become a member of the 1962 Mets.

This game started off pretty well.  The Phillies scored a run in the first inning on back to back doubles from Placido Polanco and Hunter Pence off of Ricky Romero.  Its always exciting when the Phillies score early after being shut out.  The Blue Jays responded with a run in the second on a home run from Yunel Escobar.  I really don’t have a good reason, but I really don’t like that guy.  The only redeeming factor about the Blue Jay shortstop is that Bobby Cox didn’t like him either.  In any event he went 3-4 with two runs scored and the homer.  He can go to hell.

John Mayberry Jr. proved that he isn’t entirely useless by taking Romero deep with two guys on base.  I am no mathematician, but I believe this accounted for three runs.  Toronto got one run back and Jimmy Rollins provided an “insurance” run in the top of the eighth.  Jimmy was also the one who provided the errant throw scoring a run and making everyone watching this game do one of two things.  Turn off the game with the expectation of doom, or continue watching, teeth clenched, anger welling within.  Kelly Johnson singled off of Lee, Chad Qualls allowed Johnson to score and the game was essentially over.

Joe Savery was the guy saddled with earning the loss in the bottom of the tenth inning.  The inning went a little something like this.  Walk.  Balk.  Groundout.  Strikeout.  Game winning single with Escobar scoring the winning run.  Painful, direct and entirely not surprising.

The moment that let us know that God hates Cliff Lee was when Jimmy Rollins threw a ball into right field attempting to record an out as Edwin Encarnacion attempted to take an extra base.  When a guy like Rollins, who actually knows how to play defense, makes a play like that, you know damn well that the wheels are falling off.

The most attractive play of the game was a three run home run from John Mayberry Jr.  There hasn’t been too much late blooming as of late from the guy that we were all hoping would be Jayson Werth.  Maybe Washington wants him too.

The hero of the game for the Phillies was Ryan Howard.  Apparently Howard hit a home run today and ran around the bases after the game.  It seems like he and the second baseman’s returns may not give the Phillies a chance because they will be out of the running by that point.

The game’s villain was Yunel Escobar.  He went 3-4 and scored the winning run of the game.

Kyle Kendrick attempts to halt the hemorrhaging tomorrow.