Do you think that this is what the Phillies had in mind when they pulled the trigger on the trade that brought Cliff Lee to Philadelphia? Did they have some crystal ball somewhere that told them Jamie Moyer would get hurt, that J.A Happ would be ineffective in his first post-season start and that Cole Hamels would not show the form that won him the NLCS and World Series MVP in 2008?

Nah, probably not.  What they did know about the 2008 American League Cy Young Award winner was that he is a horse.  A guy who takes the ball and pitches deep into games, and that is what the Phillies really need tonight when they take on 15 game winner Ubaldo Jimenez and the Colorado Rockies.  They also knew that two years ago Cliff Lee, after an awful 2007 season, was relegated to cheerleader as he watched his Cleveland Indians go up 3 games to 1 on the Boston Red Sox only to eventually lose the lead and a decisive Game 7.   Boston went on to win the World Series and the Indians haven’t gotten back to the post-season since.

Tonight’s game is a rematch of Game 1 when Lee dominated, shutting out the Rockies for 8.2 innings before settling for a complete game 5-1 victory.  The Phillies certainly don’t need a complete game from Lee – but they do need a solid start from him because even though they are home for Game 5 tomorrow if necessary, anything can happen in a Game 5 and I’m sure the Phillies would just as soon close this one out and not have to worry about which Cole Hamels will show up tomorrow night.   The Phillies already got away with one last night when they overcame a bad and short outing by J.A Happ as well as two walks in the ninth by Brad Lidge after securing a one run lead on Ryan Howard’s ninth inning sac fly.   The Phillies also had to use more of their bullpen on a brutally cold night then they would’ve like to have, so a seven or eight inning outing by Lee would go a long way.  There is no travel day between Games 4 and   5 thanks to Saturdays cancellation so if the Phillies lose tonight and have to use the bullpen again that would leave the Phillies in a bad spot for tomorrow night.

Let’s hope that scenario doesn’t present itself and the Phillies close this one out on the road.