Lee Helps Phillies Beat Twins, Snap 5-Game Skid
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — After just missing a diving catch, nothing was going to stop Ben Revere from scoring the go-ahead run one inning later.
Not former teammate Justin Morneau. Not Joe Mauer. Not third-base coach Ryne Sandberg.
Cliff Lee allowed two runs in seven strong innings, Revere had four hits and scored the decisive run, and the Philadelphia Phillies rallied to beat the Minnesota Twins 3-2 on Thursday night and snap a five-game losing streak.
The speedy Revere slid home under catcher Mauer's tag with nobody out in the eighth, scoring from third base on Jimmy Rollins' chopper. Morneau was playing in at first base, but his throw was too late to catch Revere — formerly of the Twins.
"I'm just going on contact, no matter what," Revere said. "Actually, Sandberg was like, 'On a swinging bunt, don't go.' I was like, 'I'm going. I don't care, I'm going.' He said all right.'
"Luckily, Jimmy put it in the right spot and I could score."
Lee (8-2) gave up only one hit and faced the minimum number of batters through 6 1-3 innings before Mauer walked and Ryan Doumit reached on an infield hit.
Morneau lined a two-run double past a diving Revere to give Minnesota a 2-1 lead in the seventh.
"Perfect placement. I was ticked, I was so ticked," said Revere, who reached on a bunt in the eighth. "That eighth inning was good to get that victory because Lee pitched his tail off."
Pinch-hitter Kevin Frandsen opened the eighth with a double against reliever Jared Burton (0-4) and scored the tying run on Michael Young's single.
"It snowballed quick there, but I kept making pitches, limited the damage. That's all I could do at that point," Burton said.
After surrendering a four-run lead in a loss to Milwaukee last Friday, Lee was locked in and performed well again following a loss.
In eight starts this season after a Phillies defeat, Lee is 7-1 with a 2.54 ERA.
The Phillies needed Lee to be as sharp as he was because even though they had 16 hits, they stranded 16 runners — including 10 in the first five innings against Kevin Correia.
"That was frustrating losing the lead," said Lee, who might have pitched longer if not for a blister on his middle finger. "All game it seemed like we had a ton of hits, but somehow never scored. We scored when we needed to."
Mike Adams pitched a perfect eighth, and Jonathan Papelbon worked the ninth for his 12th save.
The Phillies bullpen had given up late leads in the first two games of this series and entered the game with a 4.56 ERA — third worst in baseball.
In contrast, the Twins bullpen had a 1.78 ERA in its previous 18 games before Burton allowed the first four runners to reach in the eighth.
Correia allowed one run and eight hits, and struck out six in five innings. It wasn't as pretty as Lee's performance, but nearly as effective.
"I felt like he was out there for three minutes an inning and I was out there for 30 minutes an inning," Correia said.
Ryan Howard had three singles — all grounders through a Twins' defense shifted to the right side — and an RBI.
Young tried to score on Howard's third single in the sixth, but was thrown out by Doumit.
Mauer had the only other Twins hit, a single in the fourth.
At the end of the night, it was Revere who did the most to change the game's momentum one last time.
"Best game I've seen him play so far," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. "Without a doubt. It's the best he's hit the ball. It's the best he's run. His speed definitely played a factor in the game."
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