They’re armed, ready in Philly

“I look at our starting pitching as very good,’’ Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said yesterday. “I think it’s as good as any team in the National League, and I think that our starting pitching will play up big in this series.’’

The defending World Series champions are sending reigning AL Cy Young Award winner Cliff Lee (14-13, 3.22 ERA with Indians and Phillies) to the mound for Game 1 today. Ubaldo Jimenez (15-12, 3.47) gets the start for Colorado.

Both pitchers are quite aware the ball travels well at Citizens Bank Park, and they’re facing plenty of hitters who can drive it out. Neither Lee nor Jimenez will be intimidated.

“I think it’s pretty well noted that it’s a hitter’s ballpark,’’ Lee said. “It still doesn’t mean you can’t throw righthanders in and you can’t come in on lefties because you’re scared they’re going to hit a home run. Obviously, you get in certain situations where you might not want to come in on a guy. But for the most part, I’m going to pitch the way I pitch, regardless.’’

Pitching at Coors Field prepares Jimenez for just about anything, so he shouldn’t have trouble blocking it out of his mind.

“The first thing is I’m not going to be thinking about the park because it’s a hitter’s park, anybody can hit them out,’’ he said.

Lee has faced the Rockies only once in his career, beating them, 3-1, Aug. 6. He allowed one run and six hits, striking out nine in seven innings.

Jimenez held the Phillies to one run in 6 1/3 innings in the clincher of the ’07 series, but is 0-1 with an 8.10 ERA in two regular-season starts against them.

“Anybody in that lineup can hurt you,’’ Jimenez said. “It’s a tough lineup, a really tough lineup. It’s a big challenge. But there’s nothing you can do. The only thing, I’m going to go out there and just pitch my game, try to win.’’

Cole Hamels, who was dominant during Philadelphia’s postseason run last October, faces Aaron Cook in Game 2. Jason Hammel got the nod over All-Star Jason Marquis to pitch Game 3 for Colorado while the Phillies haven’t decided. They can use three-time Cy Young Award winner Pedro Martinez, Joe Blanton, or J.A. Happ.