AMERICAN LEAGUE : Cleveland’s Lee becomes AL’s first 13-game winner
Posted on Monday, July 21, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/adg/Sports/231983/
SEATTLE — Cliff Lee left something behind in New York during a chaotic All-Star trip: command of his fastball.
So what ? He still has a nasty curve and a few other outstanding off-speed pitches.
Lee (Benton, Arkansas Razorbacks ) followed up his All-Star start by allowing 11 hits in his second complete game of the season as Cleveland beat the Seattle Mariners 6-2 on Sunday.
“Surprise, surprise ! It’s The General Cliff Lee !” fellow Indians All-Star Grady Sizemore announced in a mock Southern accent, Dukes of Hazard style.
Lee, just 5-8 with a 6. 29 ERA while Cleveland won the AL Central last season, became the American League’s first 13-game winner.
He also became the first Indians pitcher to yield at least 11 hits in a complete-game victory since Charles Nagy, who gave up 13 against Baltimore on June 17, 1992, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
“I was missing with my fastball quite a bit over the plate today,” Lee said. “Whatever. I’ll take that outing every time.”
Lee (13-2 ) threw first-pitch strikes to 16 of his first 20 batters, and 41 of his first 50 pitches were strikes. Only one Mariner even saw ball three: Miguel Cairo with two outs in the seventh. Cairo then tripled home Jose Lopez to make it 6-2.
Four of the season-high 11 hits allowed by Lee (13-2 ) stayed in the infield, and six came over the final three innings as he tired. He struck out four and walked none in his fifth career complete game. ANGELS 5, RED SOX 3 Casey Kotchman hit a two-run double to cap a three-run rally in the eighth inning, and host Los Angeles beat Boston for its fifth consecutive victory. Vladimir Guerrero and Torii Hunter (Pine Bluff ) homered on consecutive pitches from Tim Wakefield (6-7 ) in the second. YANKEES 2, ATHLETICS 1 Andy Pettitte (11-7 ) outpitched Oakland All-Star Justin Duchscherer (10-6 ), getting just enough run support from Jason Giambi’s home run and a sacrifice fly by Alex Rodriguez to help host New York hold off Oakland for a three-game sweep. BLUE JAYS 9, RAYS 4 Alex Rios and Marco Scutaro homered, and visiting Toronto avoided a three-game sweep with a victory over AL East-leading Tampa Bay. RANGERS 1, TWINS 0 Taylor Teagarden broke up Scott Baker’s perfect-game bid with a sixth-inning home run for his first major league hit, and Vicente Padilla (11-5 ) pitched visiting Texas past Minnesota. TIGERS 5, ORIOLES 1 Justin Verlander came within an out of completing a three-hitter, and visiting Detroit got home runs from Magglio Ordonez and Marcus Thames to hand Baltimore its 15 th consecutive Sunday loss. ROYALS 8, WHITE SOX 7 Esteban German hit a go-ahead, two-run double in the eighth inning to lead visiting Kansas City over Chicago. Jim Thome doubled in the seventh inning for his 2, 000 th career hit.
National League MARLINS 3, PHILLIES 2 Jorge Cantu hit a bases-loaded single off the scoreboard with none out in the 11 th inning, and host Florida tightened the NL East race by beating Philadelphia. DODGERS 6, DIAMONDBACKS 5 Andre Ethier hit a go-ahead triple to highlight a five-run, ninth-inning rally and visiting Los Angeles beat Arizona. CUBS 9, ASTROS 0 Ryan Dempster (11-4 ) struck out seven in eight shutout innings to earn his first road victory in two years and Chicago snapped a three-game losing streak with a victory over host Houston. METS 7, REDS 5 Third baseman Edwin Encarnacion hit one of host Cincinnati’s three home runs off Mike Pelfrey, then made a throwing error in the 10 th inning that helped New York rally for a victory and a split of their four-game series. ROCKIES 11, PIRATES 3 Matt Holliday and Jeff Baker homered and had three hits each, Aaron Cook (12-6 ) won his team-leading 12 th game and Colorado completed a four-game sweep of Pittsburgh. BREWERS 7, GIANTS 4 Ryan Braun hit a threerun home run and drove in a career-high five runs, pitcher Manny Parra (9-2 ) had an RBI single en route to winning his eighth consecutive decision and visiting Milwaukee completed a season sweep of San Francisco. NATIONALS 15, BRAVES 6 Former Braves outfielder Willie Harris drove in five runs and reached base five times, Jesus Flores had five hits and Austin Kearns hit a two-run home run as visiting Washington routed Atlanta. Sunday’s results
NATIONAL LEAGUE Florida 3, Philadelphia 2, 11 innings NY Mets 7, Cincinnati 5, 10 innings Washington 15, Atlanta 6 Chicago Cubs 9, Houston 0 St. Louis 9, San Diego 5 Colorado 11, Pittsburgh 3 Milwaukee 7, San Francisco 4 LA Dodgers 6, Arizona 5 AMERICAN LEAGUE NY Yankees 2, Oakland 1 Detroit 5, Baltimore 1 Toronto 9, Tampa Bay 4 Kansas City 8, Chicago White Sox 7 Texas 1, Minnesota 0 Cleveland 6, Seattle 2 LA Angels 5, Boston 3