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Game #28: Cliff Lee ends April like he began it, winning

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Seattle	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	0		3	9	1
CLEVELAND	2	0	0	1	5	0	0	0	X		8	11	0
W: Cliff Lee (5-0) L: Jarrod Washburn (1-3) HR: CLE: Grady Sizemore (3), Wladimir Balentien (1)

Cliff Lee continued his April dominance Wednesday by winning his fifth start in five opportunities so far in 2008, as the Cleveland Indians defeated the Seattle Mariners 8-3 at Progressive Field. Lee’s performance against Seattle was again highlighted by his ability to throw strikes.

Lee entered the game having gone 21 straight innings without giving up a run. His streak would continue throughout most of the game, although it was challenged several times before he left in the seventh. In the first inning, Lee gave up back-to-back, one-out singles before getting Adrian Beltre to line out, and Jose Vidro to strike out. In the fifth, there were Mariners at the corners with two outs, and Lee got Ichiro to pop out to Jamey Carroll at second.

Lee’s consecutive scoreless innings streak would end in the seventh inning, when Lee gave up two lead-off singles, before Wladimir Balentien went yard. His three-run shot went into the stands in right, ending Cliff Lee’s night for good. Lee’s night was solid, if not as spectacular as his past starts. Lee threw 97 pitches, 64 of them were strikes. He wasn’t nearly as efficient in previous starts, but the more telling sign was that he never stopped mixing up his pitches as he hadn’t done over the 2007 season. He gave up eight hits, and the three earned runs, to go with three strikeouts, and no walks.

Let’s hope that Lee continues his hot start as the weather warms up.

The offense actually showed up today, which is certainly the exception as opposed to the rule. Grady Sizemore must have heard the fans clamoring about his ordinary play when he lead off with a home run to start tonight’s game. Sizemore (2-3, 2 runs, 1 RBI), Victor Martinez (2-5, 1 run, 1 RBI), Franklin Gutierrez (2-4, 1 HR, 1 R, 3 RBI) and Kelly Shoppach (2-4) all had multi-hit games. Every other Indians’ starter also reached base tonight, with the only players not to get a hit being Ryan Garko and Cabrera.. The line-up had another different look, as Garko returned after his night off, while Travis Hafner found himself on the bench. VMart dh-ed and hit third, with Garko batting clean-up, mainly because there aren’t exactly a plethora of Indians showcasing the ability to bat fourth. Still, Garko came into the game mired in an 0-23 slump. He shouldn’t have been manning the power-slot in the Tribe’s order. Casey Blake was back at third, batting fifth, while Jamey Carroll was at 2nd, batting 2nd, and Asdrubal took over for Jhonny Peralta at short, and batted ninth. It worked tonight, and you have to give Wedge some leeway. This is the strategy he used most of last season, until mid-April, when the Indians began playing their best ball.

Is Adam Miller beginning to make a case to get called up? When the name Adam Miller was mentioned a year and a half ago, the first thing that flashed through everyone’s mind was an 100 MPH fastball, and a future #1 starter. Today, thoughts drift to tears, blisters, hamstrings and strains. Miller can’t seem to stay healthy long enough to make the final statement in a minor league career that could finally put him on the big league roster.

Maybe Adam Miller has turned the corner.

With Aaron Laffey and Jeremy Sowers showcasing the future of Indians’ pitching with two solid starts over the past week, Miller’s name has gotten lost in the shuffle a bit. Maybe that’s just what he needed to finally get over the hump. Maybe Miller felt the weight of being the #1 prospect, and continued to throw too hard. Maybe Miller ignored improving his delivery because he was too focused on what got him here, his live arm. Maybe Miller just had bad luck.

Miller continued his comeback a couple of nights ago, starting for AAA Buffalo against Scranton Wilkes-Barre. He only went four innings making 86 pitches, which probably had the Tribe brass nervous, since he was on a strict 85 pitch limit. With Miller’s history, one pitch could make a difference this early in the season. He did struggle, yet, his numbers indicate a kid that’s learning how to pitch instead of just throw. Miller went the four innings, giving up four hits, two walks, and striking out four. Two of the strikeouts got him out of a couple of two out jams. In the First, Miller gave up a single and two walks with two outs, before a strike out got him out of the inning. In the second, he gave up two singles with two outs, before another strike out salvaged the inning once again. It was a good outing for the future Tribe hurler.

In Miller’s two games, he’s pitched nine innings, and has a sparkling 0.00 ERA. He’s only given up eight total hits, while striking out six, and walking four. I know it’s early yet, and a bit premature, but is it inevitable that the Indians will call him up to bolster a bullpen that’s been less than stellar?

Now, if we can just get him to hit the ball.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 30th, 2008 at 10:01 pm and is filed under Casey Blake, Aaron Laffey, Cliff Lee, Jamey Carroll, Adam Miller, Jose Bidro, Wladimir Balentien, Tribe Victory, Franklin Gutierrez, Kelly Shoppach, Victor Martinez, Grady Sizemore, Jhonny Peralta, Jarrod Washburn, James Pete, Travis Hafner, Jeremy Sowers, Adrian Beltre. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.