PBR - If you watched last night's contest against the Pirates you could easily tell Cliff Lee did not have complete command of his pitches.
He threw just six curveballs and none were strikes. One actually bounced in front of Carlos Ruiz in the sixth and allowed the Pirates to tie the contest at 1-1.
Lee's ball-to-strike ratio was also abnormal - of 99 pitches only 59 were strikes.
The irony is that as mediocre as Lee was, the Pirates did not have a base runner reach second until the sixth inning.
The chart below, thanks to Brooks Baseball, demonstrates how inaccurate Lee was last night.
Last night's loss cannot be blamed on Lee. He battled himself and pitched well enough to walk away with a victory, but with an anemic offense behind him his margin for error was minuscule.
Unfortunately, even aces sometimes need a little cushioning. He didn't have that last night.
