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Lee pitches Indians past Devil Rays

Jul 1, 2007 - 9:21 PM CLEVELAND (Ticker) -- Cliff Lee and the Cleveland Indians can't seem to lose right now.

Lee pitched eight outstanding innings as the Indians defeated the Tampa Bay Devil Rays 3-2, on Sunday.

The Indians won for the fifth time in six games and moved ahead of second place Detroit by two games in the AL Central.

"Everybody is contributing," Indians manager Eric Wedge said. "They're playing the game the way it supposed to be played."

Lee (5-4) equaled a career high with nine strikeouts as he allowed only one run on four hits.

"I knew my curveball was working," Lee said. "(Tampa Bay) really weren't swinging that well at it."

Lee started off the game by striking out the first five batters he faced before allowing a solo home run to Carlos Pena in the second. That was the only mistake made by Lee, who allowed only three hits the rest of the way.

"I think that's the best he has thrown all season," Wedge said. "He used all his pitches and both sides of the plate."

The Indians' lefthander didn't allow a runner past first base after Pena's home run until Akinori Iwamura hit a two-out double in the eighth. The effort resulted in Lee's third straight winning decision.

"My past three or four starts have been more of what I expect of myself," said Lee, who missed the whole month of April with strained right abdominal. "I feel like I am more in the swing of things. Hopefully I can keep this going."

Closer Joe Borowski pitched the ninth to pick up his 24th save in 26 chances. He leads the American League in saves.

Tampa Bay starter James Shields (6-4) was nearly as dominant against the Indians as he was the first time he faced Cleveland on April 22. In that start, Shields allowed only two runs on two hits and tied a Tampa Bay record with 12 strikeouts. On Sunday he allowed three runs - two earned - on six hits while striking out 10 in 6 1/3 innings.

"I was throwing a lot of cut fastballs," Shields said. (Cleveland) wasn't making any adjustments on it, so I decided to keep throwing it."

Tampa Bay's defense let Shields down in the sixth.

Shields gave up singles to Casey Blake and Jhonny Peralta to start the inning. Travis Hafner hit a ground ball that deflected off Pena to second baseman Josh Wilson. Wilson tried to get Hafner at first base but the throw went behind Shields, who was covering, allowing Blake to score for a 2-1 lead.

"It was a tougher throw for Josh," Devil Rays manager Joe Maddon said. "It came off Carlos' chest. We tried to make the play, but we didn't."

Cleveland extended its lead the seventh on an RBI single by Grady Sizemore. Shields started the inning by striking out Kelly Shoppach, but gave up a double to Ben Francisco, ending his afternoon.

Reliever Shawn Camp got Josh Barfield to ground out, but Casey Fossum gave up the single to Sizemore.

After starting the season by winning his first six decisions, Shields has lost his last four straight starts.

"The goal for the starting pitcher is to keep the team in the game," Shields said. "We came out on the bottom end."

Cleveland tied the game at 1-1, when Peralta hit a solo shot to right field for his 14th homer. The home run snapped a streak of five straight strikeouts by Shields.

Tampa Bay has lost a season-high seven straight games.