Phanatic Magazine
Clearly the best in a field which only included a Pittsburgh Pirates reliever and a Washington Nationals starter, on Tuesday Philadelphia Phillies left-handed starter Cliff Lee was rightfully selected as the National League Pitcher of the Month for June.
Lee, voted a National League All-Star, finished the season's third month with a 5-0 record and a Major League-low 0.21 earned run average in five outings. He led the senior circuit in victories, placed third in innings pitched (42) and ranked sixth with 29 strikeouts.
He also became the first NL starter to toss three straight shutouts since
Brandon Webb did so for Arizona in 2007. Lee accomplished the feat from June 16-28, blanking the Marlins, Cardinals and Red Sox in turn to become the first Phillies pitcher to accomplish that feat since the venerable Robin Roberts did so for the Whiz Kids NL pennant winners in 1950.
The 32-year-old Arkansas native also tossed 34 straight scoreless innings to complete the month, second-longest in franchise history to Grover Cleveland Alexander (41 innings in 1911).
Thanks to his impressive effort, the crafty southpaw took home his second
career monthly honor, after winning with Seattle exactly one year ago.
For the season, Lee is 9-6 with a 2.92 ERA and 128 strikeouts in 129 1/3
innings over 18 starts.
Of course, Lee's scoreless string was broken during his first start of July, on Sunday in Toronto. The Jays got to him for a third-inning run, then piled on six more -- including a three-homer eighth-inning burst -- which helped the home team claim a 7-4 victory.
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