page_title: Cliff Lee
section_title: 2011 season
hierarchical_section_title: Cliff Lee / Professional baseball career / Return to Phillies (2011–2014) / 2011 season
caption_attribution_description: Phillies at Orioles June 9, 2012 Phillies at Orioles June 9, 2012
context_page_description: Clifton Phifer Lee is an American former professional baseball starting pitcher. Lee played in Major League Baseball for the Cleveland Indians, Philadelphia Phillies, Seattle Mariners, and Texas Rangers. He stood 6 feet 3 inches and weighed 205 pounds, while playing. During his school days, Lee played baseball at Benton High School and attended Meridian Community College and the University of Arkansas before being drafted by the Montreal Expos in the fourth round of the 2000 draft.
  After playing with the Expos’ minor-league affiliate Harrisburg Senators, Lee was traded in 2002 to the Cleveland Indians and was first called up to the big leagues later that season. He was traded to the Phillies in 2009, then traded to the Mariners and Rangers, eventually returning to the Phillies as a free agent in 2011. A four-time All-Star, Lee won the American League Cy Young Award in 2008 as a member of the Indians, after leading the AL in wins and lowest earned run average.
  Lee won his first seven postseason starts. As a Phillie, he went 4-0 in the 2009 postseason, including a complete game in the 2009 World Series against the New York Yankees.
context_section_description: On December 15, 2010, Lee signed a five-year and $120 million free-agent contract with the Phillies. The contract also included a vesting option for a sixth year. He joined a pitching rotation consisting of Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt, Cole Hamels and Joe Blanton. Commentators called it one of the best rotations ever assembled. Halladay, Oswalt, Lee, and Hamels were dubbed the 'Phantastic Phour' by fans and the media. In returning to the Phillies (despite the higher salary offered to him by the Yankees), Lee mentioned the chance to win a World Series ring, the strength of the staff, the chance to throw to a pitcher instead of a designated hitter in the National League, the regular sellouts, and the passion of the fans. He said "I never wanted to leave in the first place".
  In Lee's first game back with the Phillies on April 2, 2011, he pitched seven innings, allowing four hits and three runs, while striking out eleven and walking none. On May 6, in a game against the Atlanta Braves, he struck out a career-high 16 batters, allowing three runs in a 5–0 Philadelphia loss. On June 28, Lee pitched a third consecutive complete game shutout in a 5–0 victory over the Boston Red Sox. Lee was awarded the National League Pitcher of the Month award for June 2011. Lee went 5–0 and had a 0.21 ERA. Lee pitched three consecutive shutouts and 34 scoreless innings. By the end of the month, he had also personally outscored teams he opposed (he scored two runs in the month while only allowing one run).
  On July 9, Lee hit his first major league home run against Tommy Hanson of the Braves after a ten-pitch at-bat. Although the Phillies lost the game 4–1, it was the first home run by a Phillies pitcher since Chan Ho Park in April 2009. Lee then went on to hit his second major league home run on August 9 against Ted Lilly of the Los Angeles Dodgers. In the same game, Lee also recorded his 17th career double-digit strikeout game, resulting in a 2–1 Phillies win.
  On September 26, 2011, Lee was the winning pitcher in a 4–2 game against the Braves. He pitched six innings, gave up five hits and two runs, struck out six, and walked none, giving the Phillies their 100th win of the season. It marks the third time in franchise history that the Phillies have won 100 or more games in a season, and the first time they notched 100+ wins since 1977. The Phillies finished the season with a franchise-record 102 wins.
  In the postseason, despite having the best regular season for a second year and being tipped as the runaway favorites to win the World Series, the Phillies were eliminated by the St. Louis Cardinals in the NLDS. Lee started Game 2 where he surrendered five runs, as the Cardinals made a comeback from a 4-0 deficit to win 5-4. The Cardinals eventually defeated Lee's former team, the Texas Rangers, in seven games to win the World Series.
  Lee finished the regular season with a 17-8 record and a career-best 2.40 ERA. He pitched a total of ​232 ²⁄₃ innings in 32 starts (25 of which were quality), struck out a career-high 238 batters against just 42 walks, and held opponents to a 1.03 WHIP and a .229 batting average. He also led the MLB in shutouts with six, the most shutouts for any major league starter since Tim Belcher, who pitched eight shutouts in 1989 for the Dodgers. Lee finished third in the voting for the National League Cy Young Award.
caption: Lee returned to the Phillies on a five-year contract in 2010
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