One strike away from a shutout, Cliff Lee stepped back to survey the scene at Citizens Bank Park.
A sellout crowd of 46,452 was standing and roaring. The wind was whipping debris through the air.
It was a moment worth capturing for a man making his playoff debut Wednesday.
Lee couldn’t complete the shutout, allowing an RBI double to Colorado shortstop Troy Tulowitzki after stepping back on the mound. Lee did finish what he started, striking out Garrett Atkins to end his complete-game effort in leading the defending world champion Phillies to a 5-1 win in Game 1 of a National League Division Series.
“I wanted to give myself a chance to really absorb it and take it all in,” Lee said of stepping off the rubber during Tulowitzki’s at-bat. “Maybe it cost me a run, but we still won, so that’s the bottom line.”
The Phillies won because Lee dominated in the series opener of a matchup between the last two NL champions. He allowed six hits, walked none and struck out five while throwing 79 of his 113 pitches for strikes.
Three of the hits Colorado managed came in the first two innings. The Rockies failed to score in those frames, allowing Lee to find a groove. He retired 16 straight from the second inning to the seventh.
Lee’s performance quieted those who questioned Phillies manager Charlie Manuel’s decision to give Lee the Game 1 nod over Cole Hamels, last year’s NL Championship Series and World Series MVP. Hamels will start Game 2 on Thursday against Rockies right-hander Aaron Cook.
“[Lee] definitely threw us off our game plan, because we did want to try to make him work a little bit more than how it ended up,” said Rockies first baseman Todd Helton, who went 0-for-4.
Colorado starter Ubaldo Jimenez (0-1) threw better than Lee for four innings, needing just 45 pitches to mow through the Phillies. A leadoff walk to Jayson Werth in the fifth changed the tenor of the game.
Raul Ibanez followed with an RBI double, and Carlos Ruiz added an RBI single later in what wound up being a 35-pitch inning for Jimenez. The Phillies tacked on three runs in the sixth.
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stephen.miller@tribune.com
