C.J. Wilson was up in the bullpen during the seventh inning, but Ron Washington is putting Cliff Lee back out there in the bottom of the eighth inning with a 3-1 lead.
Lee has allowed just one run on six hits over seven innings so far tonight, striking out nine and walking none. He has thrown 74 out of 100 pitches for strikes.
The left-hander has established an ALDS record by notching 19 strikeouts over his two starts during the series. The previous record was 16 by Randy Johnson (1995, 1997) and Mike Mussina (1997).
The strikeouts are just dandy, but Lee hasn’t done the Rays any favors during this series. He hasn’t walked a batter in his 14 innings of work.
Lee is slated to face Jason Bartlett, Ben Zobrist and Carl Crawford in the bottom of the eighth. Bartlett is 3-for-3 with a double on the night. Darren Oliver and Darren O’Day are up in the bullpen should he run into any trouble.