Atlanta, GA – Cliff Lee tossed eight scoreless innings and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Atlanta Braves, 2-0, to avoid a three-game sweep.
Lee (1-0) gave up just two hits while striking out eight for the Phillies. The left-hander, who plummeted from 17 wins in 2011 to six last year, didn't pick up his first win last season until July 4.
Chase Utley and Ben Revere had an RBI apiece in the second inning for Philadelphia, which stranded nine runners.
Braves starter Kris Medlen (0-1) allowed two runs on six hits over five innings to take the loss. The right-hander went 10-1 with a 1.57 ERA in 50 games (12 starts) last season.
"Obviously it wasn't ideal conditions, but this is what we are going to be dealing with in the whole month of April," Medlen said. "We are going to Colorado and Pittsburgh and Detroit. So that's not an excuse at all. You can't give Cliff Lee a two-run lead in the beginning of the game."
The Phillies scored their only two runs of the game in the second. Laynce Nix singled, Erik Kratz doubled and Lee walked to load the bases with no outs. Revere grounded into a force out and Nix crossed the plate. Jimmy Rollins walked to fill the bags again. Utley's sacrifice fly made it a 2-0 game.
After totaling 16 runs in the first two games of the season, the Braves were held to two hits on Thursday. Dan Uggla singled with two outs in the second inning and Justin Upton singled in the fourth.
"Throw strikes, get ahead in the count and let the defense make plays," Lee said of playing with a lead.
Jonathan Papelbon tossed a perfect ninth for his first save of the season.
Game Notes
The Braves lost for the first time in 24 starts by Medlen ... Lee improved to 5-4 in 11 career starts against Atlanta ... Philadelphia went 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position.
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