as the season turns

Cliff Lee deserved to see a change in the wind. In 2012, the Meridian Community College product put up a 3.16 ERA and a 207-28 strikeouts-to-walks ratio yet finished with a 6-9 record for a foundering Philadelphia team. The Phillies haven’t been any better this season, but Lee's bottom line is. After tossing eight strong innings to beat San Diego 4-2 on Wednesday, the left-hander has a 2.97 ERA, a 187-32 K/BB ratio and -- ta da! -- a 13-6 record. Considering that the Phillies are 11 games under .500 and don’t score much, especially when Lee is pitching, this is a remarkable turnaround. Call it the breaks of the game. There may have been rumblings that Lee’s age is showing — he turned 35 last month — but he dismisses such chatter. “I feel young, maybe I’m getting gray in my beard, I don’t know, but I still feel young,” he told mlb.com. He’s got 138 career wins with, apparently, many more to come. P.S. Former Mississippi Braves pitcher David Hale, an 8-game winner in Pearl in 2012, is slated to make his MLB debut for Atlanta vs. San Diego on Friday. (Former Mississippi State star Paul Maholm is having elbow issues.) … Ex-Ole Miss standout Seth Smith contributed a double and two runs to Oakland’s 10-run inning on Wednesday. The A’s 18-3 rout of Minnesota put them 3 games ahead of skidding Texas in the American League West. ... Lance Lynn, another UM alum who has been scuffling, allowed just one unearned run in six innings (yet got no decision) in St. Louis' 5-1 win over Milwaukee. The Cardinals stayed a game up on Pittsburgh in the National League Central.