Three things you can count on: Death, Taxes and Cliff Lee

(AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Stop me if you've heard this before: Cliff Lee dominated batter after batter and pitched a gem to lead the Phillies to a win. It sounds like a broken record, but Lee has done exactly that in each of his first four starts with the Phillies. On Wednesday night, Lee did it against the Diamondbacks in an 8-1 win, pitching an 11 strikeout complete game while giving up one unearned run on 2 hits. He had a no-hitter through 6 innings and each of his two hits allowed were singles.

I've run out of ways to describe how good Lee has been for the Phillies. The man has truly dominated National League hitters in his four starts, allowing only 3 earned runs in 33 innings, a sparkling 0.82 ERA. In that same span, Lee has also struck out 34 batters while walking only 6. More amazing has been Lee's consistency: in each outing with the Phillies, he has pitched at least 7 innings, gotten at least 6 strikeouts and allowed no more than 1 run. For those to be his worst stats in all of his outings with the Phillies is truly remarkable.

The game wasn't all Cliff Lee, the Phillies had some fireworks on offense as well. Jayson Werth continued his career year, belting a pair of homers to give him 27 on the season. Werth is currently on pace for 38 homers and 103 RBI, eye-popping numbers for someone who is supposedly the Phillies 5th best hitter. Also adding homers on the night were Chase Utley and Ryan Howard, who hit a 3 run bomb. For good measure, Cliff Lee also added a pair of hits into the offensive mix.

There are three things you can count on in life: death, taxes and Cliff Lee. Lee is currently in the middle of one of the most dominating stretches of games I have ever seen for a starting pitcher. Every time Lee takes the mound, Ruben Amaro looks a little more like a genius. To get this ace for the relatively small price the Phillies paid has to be the best move any team has made this season.

I've run out of ways to say it: Cliff Lee is the man.