Cliff Lee Looks To Snap Phils Out of Funk Against Mets In Game Two

The Phillies are 2-5 on the year. Do they stink? Yeah – right now they do. Their pitching is atrocious and they are scoring runs, but only during one or two innings out of the entire game. It's early in the season, but if they continue to play like this it's not gonna look bright come October. Roy Halladay had another bad start last night, allowing seven earned runs on six hits through four innings of work. Doc walked three and struck out three while taking his second straight loss of the season. He threw 99 pitches, 59 for strikes in the effort, but it clearly wasn't enough as the Mets ran away with it, 7-2. Hopefully tonight the Phils can get out of their funk, because Cliff Lee (1-0, 0.00 ERA) is on the mound and he'll oppose Dillon Gee (0-1, 1.42 ERA) in game two of three.

Cliff Lee has been the Phillies' best starting pitcher so far this year. Despite making just one start compared to Hamels and Halladay's two, Lee dominated in his first outing of the year. On Thursday in Atlanta, Lee held the Braves to two hits through eight scoreles innings while striking out eight. It was definitely the kind of start you wanted to see after Hamels and Halladay were lit up in Atlanta. Lee made four starts against the Mets last season, going 2-1 with a 2.79 ERA (9 ER In 29 IP). Lee's first win of the season came against the Mets on July 4th. Hopefully he can carry over his dominance on the mound tonight as he makes his first home start of the year. In his career against the Mets, Lee is 4-1 with a 2.09 ERA (13 ER in 56 IP). 

Dillon Gee will be making his second start of the year as well tonight. Coming off of a tough-luck loss against San Diego on Thursday. The 26-year-old allowed just one earned over 6 1/3 innings to take his first loss of the year. Gee walked three and struck out four in the Mets' 2-1 loss. Gee is looking to pitch as good as he did Thursday, but with a better outcome. Last season, Gee made just one start against Philadelphia back in May. In that start, he allowed four earned runs on ten hits through 5 2/3 innings, resulting in a no-decision. In his career against the Phils, Gee has a 2-1 record with a 6.46 ERA (22 ER in 30 2/3 IP).

Game Notes:

• Cliff Lee has a good track record against the Mets, let's see him take advantage of that.
• It's Dollar Dog Night at the CBP tonight. Eat away, fans!
• With Ben Revere's stolen base on Monday, the Phillies passed the Mets for the National League lead with eight. Neither team has been caught stealing.
  

Phillies lineup:

1. Ben Revere CF
2. Jimmy Rollins SS
3. Chase Utley 2B
4. Ryan Howard 1B
5. Michael Young 3B
6. Domonic Brown LF
7. John Mayberry Jr. RF
8. Erik Kratz C
9. Cliff Lee P.

Mets linup:

1. Collin Cowgill CF
2. Daniel Murphy 2B
3. David Wright 3B
4. John Buck C
5. Marlon Byrd RF
6. Lucas Duda LF
7. Justin Turner 1B
8. Ruben Tejada SS
9. Dillon Gee P. 

Weather forecast: Partly cloudy * 74° * 10% PoP.

TV: myPHL17
Radio: 94 WIP, 1210 WPHT

Let's Go Phillies!

Erik Seybold is The Premier Blog Lord of Journalistic Activities at Philliedelphia.com. Follow him on Twitter @ErikSeyboldPHI.