Cliff Lee is human after all

(AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

We knew this day had to come sometime. Cliff Lee, who had been nothing short of a machine since joining the Phillies in late July, had his first bad outing as a Phillie, getting shelled for 6 runs on 10 hits in a 9-1 rain-shortened loss to the Braves. I guess even Superman can be defeated now and then.

Lee went 5 innings in the game, 2 shorter than any other outing he had with the Phillies. His ERA as a Phillie also jumped from the eye-popping 0.68 to 1.80, which is still insanely good. Lee was hurt by the long ball in the game, giving up 3 homers to the Braves, 2 of which came in a 5-run 4th inning. Cliff Lee hadn't given up 5 runs in his previous 5 starts with the Phillies combined.

The rest of the Phillies team barely showed up in this one, with only Chase Utley getting the team on the scoreboard with a homer. Let's just chalk this one up to an anomaly and watch in five days when Cliff Lee dominates his next opponent. If anything, this bad outing will just make Lee mad. The rest of the league won't like him when he's mad!