Lee named NL Pitcher of Month for June

In a surprise to no one, Phillies lefthander Cliff Lee has been voted the National League Pitcher of the Month for June.

In five June starts, he was a perfect 5-0 with a major league-best 0.21 ERA and 0.69 WHIP. Lee led the NL in wins, ranked third in innings pitched (42.0) and was sixth in strikeouts (29).

He pitched complete-game shutouts in three consecutive outings, becoming the first Major Leaguer to earn three straight shutouts since Brandon Webb in 2007 and the first Phillie since Robin Roberts accomplished the feat in 1950.

In his first outing of the month, he threw seven shutout innings in a 3-1 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers at Citizens Bank Park. Lee struck out 10 Dodgers, including his 100th strikeout of the season, marking the fastest (13 games) that he has reached the 100-strikeout threshold in his nine seasons.

On June 16, he went the distance in a two-hit shutout of the Florida Marlins at Citizens Bank Park and then threw second complete-game shutout on June 22 at St. Louis. Lee tossed his third straight shutout on June 28, two-hitting the Boston Red Sox at home for his ninth win of the season.

With the shutout, he extended his consecutive scoreless innings streak to a career-high 32.0.

Lee took a no-hitter into the fifth inning against the Red Sox before surrendering a single to Marco Scutaro to lead off the sixth inning. After allowing just a single earned run during the month of June, he lowered his season ERA from 3.94 at the end of May to 2.66 by the end of June.

Other pitchers receiving votes were Pittsburgh closer Joel Hanrahan, who had a 0.71 ERA and nine saves with 11 strikeouts across 12.2 innings of work, and Washington's Jordan Zimmermann, who went 3-1 with a 0.85 ERA and 27 strikeouts in 42.1 innings of work.