"Charlie Manuel looked Cliff Lee in the eye.

"I want Madson," Manuel said.

"You sure?" Lee said.

"Damn sure," Manuel said.

Lee came within one out – one strike, really – of his sixth shutout of the season as the Phillies beat the Cincinnati Reds, 3-0, on Monday night.

When Lee loaded the bases with two outs in the ninth on a double, a walk and a hit batsman, Manuel went to Madson, who slammed the door for his 25th save and the team's majors-leading 19th shutout.

Despite pitching a gem for his 15th win, Lee was frustrated with himself for not finishing what he started.

"It isn't often you pitch 8 2/3 innings and not give up a run and somehow not feel good about it when it's over," he said. "But Madson came in and got the out so it's hard to question the move. Obviously I wanted to stay in the game, but I wasn't able to finish them off."

Despite a bit of turbulence in his final inning of August, Lee had a brilliant month. He went 5-0 and allowed just two runs in 39 2/3 innings for an ERA of 0.45. In June, Lee went 5-0 with an 0.21 ERA as he allowed just one run in 42 innings.

He is just the third pitcher in major league history to have a 5-0 record with an ERA under 1.00 in two separate months in the same season. The others: Hall of Famers Walter Johnson and Bob Gibson. When Lee heard that, he did what he usually does when he gets excited. He shrugged."