Instant Replay: Rays 7, Phillies 3

Cliff Lee gave up five runs over seven innings and the Phillies lost, 7-3, to the Rays in the nightcap of a doubleheader Sunday.

Lee (0-4) gave up three runs in the second and two in the sixth and still doesn’t have a win after 12 starts this season.

The Phillies made the game close in the seventh when they scored and brought the tying run (Carlos Ruiz) to the plate but couldn’t get any closer.

The Phillies fell to 34-40 on the season after they also lost the first game of the double-header, 3-2 (see story).

Starting pitching report
Lee went seven innings, gave up six hits and five runs. He struck out nine and walked three. Lee left the game with the Phillies trailing, 5-3.

After giving up a leadoff walk in the third inning, Lee surrendered a single to Ben Zobrist, a double to Sean Rodriguez and another double to Brooks Conrad. He gave up two more runs in the sixth inning.

Rays’ starter Cesar Ramos went 2 2/3 innings and didn’t give up a hit. He struck out two and walked three. He exited in the third inning with one on and two out before Wade Davis came in to record the final out of the inning.

Bullpen report
B.J. Rosenberg came into the game in the eighth for the Phils and walked five batters. His last pitch was a ball-four that got away and allowed two runs to score. He went just 2/3 of an inning. Jake Diekman came in and got the final out of the eighth after a walk and retired the side in order in the ninth. 

The Rays went to their bullpen early. Davis relieved Ramos in the third inning. Davis went 2 2/3 innings, gave up three hits and three runs. He walked two and struck out two. Brandon Gomes pitched 2 2/3 scoreless innings before J.P. Powell closed it in the ninth.

At the plate
The Phillies managed to muster just four hits. Placido Polanco had two of them.

Polanco made the game interesting in the seventh inning with an RBI double and advanced to third with one out but was stranded after a flyout and a groundout.

The Phillies’ first hit didn’t come until the bottom of the fourth inning, when Polanco drilled a double to left-centerfield to score Hunter Pence from first. The next batter in the fourth, John Mayberry Jr., hit an RBI single up the middle to score Polanco. Mayberry advanced to second on the throw, but was stranded there after pop-ups from Brian Schneider and Mike Fontenot and a Lee strikeout.

For Tampa Bay, Rodriguez and Conrad had back-to-back hits in the second to knock in the Rays’ three runs in the inning. Rodriguez’s double scored one and Conrad’s two more to give the Rays a 3-0 lead after their part of the second inning.

Conrad hit another two-run double in the sixth to push the Rays’ lead to 5-2. He finished with four RBIs.

Injury report
Backup catcher Schneider left the game with an ankle sprain after a collision at home with Rodriguez in the sixth inning. Ruiz came in and finished the rest of the game.

On the mend
The long-awaited return of Chase Utley looks to be coming soon. Utley will play in a rehab game with Triple A Lehigh Valley on Tuesday. On Saturday, CSNPhilly.com’s Jim Salisbury reported that Utley was heading north and would likely play one game with Lehigh Valley on Tuesday before joining the big club on Wednesday (see story).

If Tuesday goes well, Utley could be in the Phillies’ lineup on Wednesday night against the Pirates. Utley’s 20-day minor-league rehab assignment ends on July 1. He played nine games in Clearwater and was 5 for 32 (.156) with a homer and five RBIs.

Up next
The Phillies continue their homestand on Monday. They’ll host the Pirates in the four-game set. Joe Blanton (6-6, 5.04) will go against lefty Erik Bedard (4-7, 4.13) in the opener. In five career appearances against the Pirates, Blanton is 1-1 with a 3.29 ERA and has 27 strikeouts in 27 1/3 innings. He faced the Pirates in a relief role this season allowing a run on two hits in two-thirds of an inning.

E-mail Dave Zangaro at dzangaro@comcastsportsnet.com