PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - The Philadelphia Phillies provided plenty of offense in support of Cliff Lee, the team's prized free-agent acquisition, as they thumped the Houston Astros 9-4 on Saturday.
Left-hander Lee struck out 11 batters in seven innings and allowed three runs on four hits in his season debut for the Phillies after joining them from Texas in the off-season.
"I don't know what it is. They definitely have a knack for supporting their team, which is good."
Philadelphia scored twice in the first and fourth innings and pounded out three more runs in the fifth to open a 7-1 lead. Raul Ibanez scored three runs while going 2-for-3 with two walks and driving in two runs.
"That was the key to the game today," Lee said. "They scored early and kept adding on. That was good to see."
Carlos Lee hit a two-run home run in the sixth inning, highlighting a 3-for-4 performance at the plate in which he drove in all of Houston's runs.
Wandy Rodriguez took the loss allowing seven runs on nine hits while striking out five in four innings.
"I thought he had better stuff than giving up those seven runs," Astros manager Brad Mills said.
"I thought the fourth inning, those two runs with the bloop (single) with two outs that allowed two guys to come in, that was tough. That was a big inning for him."
(Reporting by Mike Mouat in Windsor, Ontario; Editing by Greg Stutchbury)
