INQUIRER Sports

PHILADELPHIA – Pitcher Cliff Lee dominated the Dodgers and got plenty of support from the Phillies bats Sunday in an 11-0 victory in baseball's National League Championship Series.

The lopsided triumph gave the reigning World Series champion Phillies a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series that will send the winners to the Fall Classic.

Lee struck out 10 and allowed just three hits in eight innings.

Ryan Howard recorded a triple and Jason Werth homered as the Phillies took a 6-0 lead after two innings.

Howard has driven in a run in all seven of Philadelphia's playoff games this season.

On Sunday Howard had three RBIs, including his two-run triple in the first inning. Werth followed that with a two-run homer, and that was more than Lee needed.

Lee surrendering two singles to Dodgers slugger Manny Ramirez and one to Ronnie Belliard.

Lee also hit a single in the eighth and scored on Shane Victorino's three-run homer. Chad Durbin relieved to begin the ninth and pitched a hitless inning.

Lee is 2-0 with an 0.74 ERA in three postseason starts, giving the Phillies exactly what they expected when they acquired the reigning Cy Young Award winner from Cleveland in July.

The Phillies wasted no time in pouncing on Dodgers starter Hiroki Kuroda.

Every starter except Raul Ibanez had a hit and all nine starters scored a run.

Kuroda, making his first start in 20 days, got just four outs. He was pulled after allowing six runs and six hits.

Dodgers manager Joe Torre went with Kuroda over Chad Billingsley even though Kuroda was unavailable for the first-round series against St. Louis because of a herniation in his cervical spine.

Game four is here on Monday, when the Phillies will send Joe Blanton to the mound and the Dodgers give the ball to Randy Wolf.