When reality not only matches but exceeds the hype, you get Cliff Lee last night at Yankee Stadium.
Affixed Godlike status for his perfection in October, Lee entered Game 3 of the ALCS as a mixture of Sandy Koufax, Whitey Ford, Warren Spahn and Andy Pettitte, the all-time winner in the postseason.
Then the Rangers lefty pitched as good as any of them in an 8-0 victory over Pettitte and the Yankees, witnessed by a disappointed gathering of 49,840 who likely were already hopeful for the day Lee signs a massive free agent contract with the Yankees this coming offseason.
“He is a handful,” Alex Rodriguez said of Lee, who hurled eight shutout innings, allowed two singles, a walk and matched a career high by whiffing 13. “He was hitting his spots. Pretty much a masterpiece.”
Lee’s gem nudged the Rangers into a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven affair that continues tonight when the Yankees firmly cross their fingers in hope that A.J. Burnett can help get them even in Game 4. Tommy Hunter starts for the Rangers.
This is the 30th time in the 41-year history of the ALCS that a team leads, 2-1. In the previous 29 occasions, the club with that advantage advanced to the World Series 22 times.
“I’ve felt good for a while,” said Lee, who beat Tampa Bay twice in the ALDS. “I’ve felt good all season. I’ve felt good every start in the postseason.”
While Lee was masterful, Pettitte wasn’t far from his postseason self. He gave up a two-run homer to Josh Hamilton in the first inning that landed in the right-field seats and three harmless singles afterward. Still, it was enough for him to get beat for the first time in the playoffs since 2005, when he was with the Astros.
“It was just a bad pitch by me, I hung a cutter and left it on the inner half,” said Pettitte, who gave up two runs, five hits, fanned five and didn’t issue a walk in the seven frames he worked. “At the time you don’t think that’s going to win the ballgame. You feel like, ‘Shut them down and we’re going to win this ballgame.’
“Cliff was great tonight, to say the least. You can’t say enough about what he did tonight in this ballpark. To be able to do what he did is pretty impressive.”
Since Lee threw a season-high 121 pitches, Rangers manager Ron Washington called for rookie closer Neftali Feliz for the final three outs after Texas scored six runs in the ninth against Boone Logan, David Robertson and Sergio Mitre for an 8-0 bulge.
Lee is 7-0 in the postseason and 3-0 this year. He certainly wasn’t the cure for the Yankees’ ALCS hitting woes with runners in scoring position, as they entered the game 4-for-23 (.174) in the clutch and went 0-for-3. Lee didn’t allow a base runner until walking Mark Teixeira in the fourth. Jorge Posada’s soft single with two outs in the fifth was the Yankees’ first hit. Brett Gardner led off the sixth with a single to center.
“We have to score more runs,” said Teixeira, who went 0-for-3 and is hitless in 11 ALCS at-bats. “But give them credit. They have pitched great.”
Derek Jeter, who fanned with Gardner on second for the first out of the sixth, wanted to quickly get the nightmare out of his mind.
“He shut us down,” Jeter said. “It’s one of those games you want to forget as soon as possible.”
So, with their season hanging in the crisp October air, the Yankees turn to Burnett and pray.
“Regardless of who’s pitching, we have to score runs,” Jeter said. “We have confidence in A.J. and we’ll be ready to play.”
george.king@nypost.com