Phillies cruise by Dodgers

Published 4:20 am Tuesday, October 20, 2009

PHILADELPHIA — Cliff Lee dominated the Dodgers, Ryan Howard and Jayson Werth provided the big swings early and the Philadelphia Phillies cruised past Los Angeles 11-0 Sunday night for a 2-1 lead in the NL championship series.

Lee provided another brilliant playoff start, striking out 10 and allowing only three hits in eight innings.

Howard hustled for a triple, Werth homered and the Phillies led 6-0 by the second inning. Howard made two headfirst dives during the romp — the big slugger has an RBI in all seven of Philadelphia’s playoff games this year, a record streak in a single postseason.

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Coming off the most-lopsided win in their postseason history, the defending World Series champion Phillies will try to move closer to a return in Game 4 Monday night. Joe Blanton starts against the Dodgers’ Randy Wolf, who hasn’t pitched since the opener of the division series against St. Louis.

Howard had three RBIs, including his two-run triple in the first. Werth followed that with a two-run homer, and that was more than enough for Lee.

The reigning AL Cy Young Award winner faced just two batters over the minimum. Lee gave up a pair of singles to Manny Ramirez and one to Ronnie Belliard.