"The way Cliff Lee was dealing, it was going to take an extraordinary effort to get the best of the Phillies lefthander.

This was one of those occasions when the Atlanta Braves obliged.

Even though Lee struck out a career-high 16 batters in seven innings, he and the Phillies suffered a 5-0 loss Friday night at Citizens Bank Park to the suddenly hot Braves.

Lee's effort was wasted because the Phillies' bats went dormant with just two hits against Derek Lowe and three Braves relievers.

It didn't take long for the Phils, coming off a three-game sweep of Washington, to realize that the Nationals no longer were in town.

Lowe immediately got the Phillies' attention by pitching six no-hit innings to start the game. During that stretch, the only Phillie to reach base was Ben Francisco, who drew a walk in the second inning.

So all Lee's strikeouts were in vain.

"Honest, I am not too worried about strikeouts. It's another way to get hitters out," Lee said. ". . . Lowe pitched a great game and we didn't score, so you have to give credit to their pitchers."

Shane Victorino's opposite-field single to left to lead off the seventh inning broke up the no-hitter. Placido Polanco followed with a ground-rule double, putting runners on second and third. Not only was the no-hitter gone, so was Lowe.

Lowe, who threw a no-hitter against Tampa Bay on April 27, 2002, as a member of the Boston Red Sox, was replaced by lefthander Eric O'Flaherty after Polanco's double.

As it turned out, Lowe didn't think he had a realistic chance at a no-hitter. He said he developed a blister on his right foot in the fifth inning and was just hanging on."