Cliff Lee won 46 games for the Cleveland Indians from 2004 to 2006.

The Indians won the American League Central in 2007, but Lee didn't get to join in on the postseason fun.

He strained an abdominal muscle in spring training that year, struggled in the majors, and was sent to the minors and ultimately left off Cleveland's postseason roster.

"It was tough being part of a team that finally made the postseason and have to sit on the sidelines and watch," Lee said after joining the Phillies in a July trade.

"But it made me a better player for it. It motivates you to go into the next season and prove everybody wrong."

Lee did that, winning the AL Cy Young Award in 2008.

Now, he's making up for that lost postseason experience.

He pitched his third gem of this postseason in the Phillies' 11-0 trouncing of the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 3 of the National League Championship Series last night.

Using four pitches - fastball, cutter, change-up, curveball - Lee attacked the strike zone and allowed just three hits and struck out 10 over eight walk-free innings.

"He's pretty damn special," Dodgers manager Joe Torre said after the beating.

Lee's totals in three postseason starts: 2-0, 241/3 innings, 14 hits, 2 earned runs, 3 walks, 20 strikeouts, 0.74 ERA.

Clearly, Mr. Lee was the best pickup that any team made at the July trade deadline.

A look at some of the key points in last night's game:

A wise decision

Phillies manager Charlie Manuel says he has faith in his bullpen, but sometimes he just doesn't show it. Lee threw 114 pitches through eight innings and had an 8-0 lead.

Surely, Manuel had someone out there in the bullpen that could finish it off.

But Lee batted in the eighth (he singled) and was on course to go out for the ninth before Shane Victorino made it an 11-0 game with three-run homer in the eighth.

That lead was comfy enough for Big Chuck.

When Victorino's homer landed, Manuel ordered Chad Durbin up in the bullpen and the righthander finished the game. Good move.

It made no sense to push up Lee's pitch count in a blowout when he'd already carried a heavy load this season - 256 innings - with potentially more to come