"The pitch was a cutter, checking in at 85 mph, located out off the plate.

In the instant it took for the ball to leave Cliff Lee's hand and arrive in Carlos Ruiz's glove, Marlins catcher John Buck made the unfortunate decision to swing.

Buck took a wild hack, flailing at the pitch, spinning around and falling to the ground.

If there was a moment that summed up Thursday's game perfectly, a picture that captured Lee's dominance with more eloquence any thousand-word opus, it was that image of Buck, struggling to regain his balance while lying helplessly in the dirt next to home plate.

For nine innings, Lee made the Marlins offense look silly, and the lefty closed out an 11-game home stand with a 3-0 shutout, handing the Phillies their seventh straight win.

"Any time you can go nine innings, and they don't score you have to be happy with that," the always understated Lee offered after the game.

Lee had no trouble finishing off the reeling Marlins, who have now dropped 17 of their last 19 games. He struck out four and allowed just two hits en route to his second shutout of the season.

During the now complete home stand in which the Phillies went 9-2, Lee was brilliant. The left-hander won all three of his starts, allowing just 13 hits in 24 innings of work while posting a sparking 0.38 ERA.

There's an explanation for Lee's torrid three-game stretch, though he runs through the details as if they were mundane afterthoughts."