Lee's Dominance, Timely Hitting Tops Yankees

Score: Indians 3 Yankees 0


Turning Point: With two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning, Cliff Lee allowed an infield single and then a double to put runners on second and third with two outs. Hideki Matsui, who is in the midst of a fifteen game hitting streak, came to the plate. Lee was able to get Matsui in a 1-2 count, and then struck out the player known as “Godzilla”, on a great curve ball. That kept the Yankees scoreless.


Analysis: It doesn’t matter how bad your offense is if your starter doesn’t give up any runs. What more can you say about Cliff Lee that hasn’t been said? This was quite possibly Cliff’s best start all season long. This was the best lineup he has faced so far, and he managed to out duel Chien-Ming Wang, who many consider the other hottest pitcher in baseball next to Lee. The Indians offense had another good night. They got some production from Casey Blake, Jhonny Peralta, and Andy Marte. They had runners on base all night against Wang. Grant it they only managed three runs, but considering the last time this team faced Wang, he threw a four hit shut out against them, the Tribe will take it. Cliff Lee gave up six hits, no runs, and struck out seven in seven innings of work. Rafael Perez was stellar pitching a scoreless eighth. Betancourt pitched his second consecutive 1-2-3 ninth for his fourth save.


MVP: Cliff Lee
As mentioned above, Lee continued his hot start with another shutout performance. Keep this in mind, Lee has only given up four runs in his six starts, and he has struck out thirty nine in those six starts. His ERA dropped from 0.96 to 0.81 tonight.


Extras:

- The only bad news was Victor Martinez’s hitting streak ended this evening. He had hit in fifteen straight games. Martinez also got the start at DH. His stiff neck did not allow him to catch for the second consecutive game. However he did have an RBI in the first inning on a sacrifice fly.

- Casey Blake kept up his hot hitting on the road. Yes you read that right. Blake came into tonight’s game hitting .343 on the road. Blake is hitting a minuscule .119 at Progressive Field. Blake was 1-3 with a big two out RBI in the fourth inning.

- Ben Francisco had another productive night. This time he started in right field. Ben was 2-4 to raise his average to .357.

- It would be wise that the Indians don’t try to steal a base on Yankees catcher, Jose Molina anymore. Molina has thrown out the runner on every steal attempt in the first two games of the series. Ben Francisco was thrown out last night and tonight attempting to steal. Grady Sizemore was gunned down by Molina trying to steal third. Molina has thrown out a staggering thirty one percent of base stealers.


Next Up: Get out the brooms Tribe fans. The Indians go for the sweep tomorrow afternoon, as Cleveland finishes their short road trip against the Yankees. The Tribe starts veteran hurler, Paul Byrd. After giving up nine runs in his first two starts, Byrd has only given up five in his past four starts. Byrd did work 5 and 2/3 innings against New York on 4/25. He gave up four runs on six hits, but did get the win. He is 1-2 with a 3.74 ERA. Mike Mussina will take the mound for the Yanks. The “Moose” is on a three game winning streak, and one of those wins came against Cleveland. Mussina is 4-3 with a 4.23 ERA. First pitch is at 1:05 PM in what will be the Indians final game in historic Yankee Stadium.