Cliff Lee, it turns out, is a human being. Lee is a terrific pitcher, but that's flesh and bone and blood under his powdery baseball cap.
The aura that has grown around Lee and Roy Halladay, around Cole Hamels and Roy Oswalt, works both ways for the Phillies. They have the best starting rotation in baseball. It is why they were the best team, with the best record, in baseball. It is why they remain favorites to win their second World Series in four years.
That aura can intimidate opponents before a pitch is thrown. But it can have an equally troubling effect on the Phillies - players, coaches, and manager Charlie Manuel.
The Phillies handed Lee a 4-0 lead in Game 2 of this suddenly tense National League division series with the St. Louis Cardinals. The game was in the bag. Ask anyone in the Phillies dugout.
The Phillies offense throttled back, ready to sail to an easy two-games-to-none series lead. It was like a one-game microcosm of the post-clinch cruise control that resulted in that eight-game September losing streak.
But Lee is human, and he looked it as the Cardinals chipped away at that lead. It was 4-3 after the fourth inning, tied after the sixth. Over a period of three innings, the Cardinals went 7 for 15 at the plate, with one walk.
"Any time you give a starting pitcher a four-run lead in the first two innings, he's in a pretty good spot," Lee said. "That's the situation I was in. I somehow squandered it away. They got a ton of hits."
If Vance Worley or any aura-less pitcher had been hit around and blown a four-run lead, Manuel almost certainly would have taken him out of the game.
But Manuel has deferred to his staff of aces all season. He and pitching coach Rich Dubee know and respect these guys. They listen when Halladay says he can finish a game, when Lee says he feels strong. There are 102 regular-season wins to support that approach.
"I never want to come out of the game," Lee said. "No matter what. I want to pitch until the last out's made. That's Charlie's job to decide who comes in and when. I totally respect that."
"He had what? Nine or 10 strikeouts?" Manuel said. "He was throwing pretty good, but they had a lot of runners on base."
So Lee stayed in for the seventh. Allen Craig led off with a triple that centerfielder Shane Victorino catches nine times out of 10.
Lee stayed in. Albert Pujols stroked an RBI single to left.
Lee stayed in. Lance Berkman singled.
