Lee comes to end of long season

PHILADELPHIA -- Game 5 of the World Series on Monday night marked the final start of Cliff Lee's season, and the final act of one of the most impactful trade-deadline pickups in recent history. It is next to impossible to imagine the Philadelphia Phillies getting as far as they did this season without Lee, whom they acquired via trade in July.

But the Phillies' long postseason run has also pushed Lee's innings count into a stratosphere few pitchers have reached in recent years. And frequently, there are ramifications from that.

Lee needed to throw only five innings Monday night to become the first pitcher to reach the 270-inning mark (regular and postseason combined) in a season since Arizona teammates Curt Schilling (305) and Randy Johnson (291) did it in 2001. It would also be almost 40 innings more than Lee's previous high (223 1/3 during his Cy Young Award season of 2008).

Typically, teams monitor the innings counts of young pitchers closely to guard against overuse, since it frequently leads to problems in future seasons. Although Lee is 31, Manager Charlie Manuel acknowledged that concern over Lee's workload factored into his decision not to start him in Game 4 on short rest.

"That's one of the reasons," Manuel said.

While most speculation at the trade deadline regarding the Phillies focused on Toronto right-hander Roy Halladay -- who was more highly regarded at the time -- they instead nabbed Lee from the Indians for four prospects. He went 7-4 with a 3.39 ERA for the Phillies in the regular season, and was 3-0 with an 0.54 ERA this postseason entering Game 5.

Peña for Cabrera

With center fielder Melky Cabrera suffering a strained hamstring in Game 4, the Yankees made a roster move, dropping Cabrera and adding reserve infielder Ramiro Peña, whose primarily role was likely to be pinch-running. By rule, Cabrera cannot return for the duration of the World Series. Brett Gardner started in place of Cabrera on Monday night.

Chamberlain's stuff

Although Yankees reliever Joba Chamberlain served up the game-tying homer to Pedro Feliz in the eighth inning of Game 4, it could not obscure the fact Chamberlain seemed more dominant Sunday night than he has at any other point all season.

Chamberlain's fastball was consistently in the 96 to 97 mph range, and his breaking ball had impressive bite. Catcher Jorge Posada later said Chamberlain's stuff was "electric."

The outing has also reignited the debate, which raged all season in New York, over whether Chamberlain should be a starter or Mariano Rivera's heir as closer. The Yankees used him as a starter for most of the season, but shifted him to the bullpen -- citing his workload -- at the end of the season.

Over the course of the postseason, he has steadily risen from a seventh-inning role to the primary eighth-inning bridge to Rivera, especially with top setup man Phil Hughes struggling.

Yankees Manager Joe Girardi was noncommittal about Chamberlain's future, but Chamberlain acknowledged the offseason will be "full of questions" about it.

Starting "is something I've wanted to do for a long time," Chamberlain said. "It's the only thing I've done."