Overmatched

The sputtering Red Sox had no answer for Cliff Lee Tuesday night. The lights-out southpaw threw his third consecutive complete game shutout en route to 5-0 Phillies victory.

In case anyone forgot, Cliff Lee is still the best pitcher in baseball. 

Or at least he was Tuesday night in Philadelphia. 

Dazzling the 167th consecutive sell-out crowd of 45,714 at Citizens Bank Park, the untouchable lefthander took a no-hitter into the sixth inning before eventually leading the Phillies to a 5-0 victory over the struggling Red Sox in the highly anticipated series opener between two of baseball's best teams. 

Taking advantage of a depleted Red Sox lineup devoid of regulars David Ortiz, Carl Crawford, J.D. Drew and Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Lee made it look easy en route to his third consecutive complete game shutout. In doing so, he became the first pitcher since Brandon Webb in 2007 to toss three straight complete game shutouts. 

"I'm making pitches, staying out of the zone, using my breaking ball and getting lucky," admitted Lee after the game. 

While his numbers weren't eye-popping (112 pitches, two hits, two walks, five strikeouts), Lee dominated from start to finish, keeping countless Sox hitters off balance with a blazing fastball and devastating curveball. Symbolic of just how in control Lee was, not a single Red Sox batter ever reached third base, let alone scored. 

With the victory, Lee improves his regular season record to 9-5 and lowers his ERA to 2.66. He also extended his scoreless innings streak to a career-best 32. 

"He's one of the best pitchers in the game, and he's riding a hot streak," said Sox manager Terry Francona. "That is a bad combination for any team to face."

"I haven't seen all of his starts, but from what I have seen, he's been quite impressive. He's working counts, and he's throwing strikes when he has to. He's really got it going right now."

In fact, Lee is so zoned in as of late that he finished off the month of June 5-0 with a microscopic 0.21 ERA, becoming just the fifth pitcher since the end of World War II to go 5-0 with a 0.21 ERA or better in a single month. 

"It's been a good run, no doubt about it," said Lee. "I've had a few in my career, but I don't look back and compare them. I want to throw a shutout every time out there. I never want to give up a run."

Making his first start in 13 days after a prolonged bout with the flu, Josh Beckett (6-3) looked rusty, giving up five runs and five hits over six innings in his worst start of the season. He surrendered a pair of two-out, two run homers, first to Domonic Brown in the second inning and then later to Shane Victorino in the sixth. 

As a result, Beckett's ERA ballooned from 1.86 to 2.20. 

Coming into the game, the matchup had been billed as a possible World Series preview, with the Sox leading the Majors in runs scored and the Phillies posting the best record in Baseball along with the lowest team ERA. 

In the end, the Sox were no match for Lee, who proved yet again that good pitching always beats good hitting. Boston has now lost five of its last six games. 

However, as frustrating and demoralizing as it was for Sox fans to watch the Olde Towne Team go down without a fight Tuesday night, Sox Nation can take solace in the fact that should the two teams meet again in October, the Phillies will be facing a much different Boston lineup.

One with Carl Crawford, not Darnell McDonald in left, Adrian Gonzalez, not Mike Cameron in right, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, not Jason Varitek behind the plate and a reborn Big Papi at first. 

Because one thing is for sure: if the Sox plan to take down the vaunted Philly rotation of Lee, Halladay, Hamels and Oswalt in the Fall Classic, all hands must be on deck, even if that means throwing your franchise first baseman into unfamiliar territory.