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Lee, Shoppach help Indians crush Philles

Jun 19, 2007 - 4:46 AM CLEVELAND (Ticker) -- Cliff Lee likes pitching against the National League.

Lee pitched seven outstanding innings and Kelly Shoppach drove in a career-high four runs as the Cleveland Indians coasted to a 10-1 triumph over the Philadelphia Phillies on Monday night.

Lee (4-4) held the highest-scoring team in the National League to one run and five hits to improve to 10-1 against the NL. It was the second consecutive win for the lefthander after losing his four previous starts.

"Hopefully this success can carry over (into the American League) and I can keep it rolling," Lee said. "I didn't do my job for awhile, bottom line. I feel like I am getting back on track and I am doing what the team is expecting of me. I am giving the team a chance to win. I feel like the past couple of outings I am starting to get there."

In his previous five starts, Lee yielded 23 runs in 24 2/3 innings.

Lee's only mistake Monday came in the sixth inning, when slugger Ryan Howard belted his 15th homer of the season.

"I threw one bad pitch that cost me," Lee said. "I threw him a 2-1 slider and he was expecting it."

With the Indians already leading, 2-0, Shoppach delivered a three-run homer off starter Cole Hamels (9-3) in the second that barely cleared the left-center field fence.

"I didn't see it" Shoppach said. "I looked at the umpire and he said homer, so I kept running."

Phillies manager Charlie Manuel came out to argue the call by third base umpire Ed Rapuano, but to no avail. Replays seemed to show that Rapuano made the right call as the ball grazed the railing over the yellow line before bouncing back onto the field.

"The umpire said, 'It hit beyond the top of the fence," Manuel said. "We couldn't see from the dugout. Our guys didn't think it did that, but that's what the umpire said."

Shoppach, who has 16 hits in his last 28 at-bats, added his fourth RBI with a run-scoring double against the wall in the sixth off Phillies reliever Geoff Geary.

"I've been fortunate to get some pitches to hit," Shoppach said. "Hopefully that goes on for the rest of the season."

"Shoppach really stepped up for us," Indians manager Eric Wedge said. "He was a big boost for us."

Josh Barfield stroked a two-run single two batters later and Jason Michaels added a solo blast in the seventh as the Indians extended the lead to 10-1.

Barfield, who was batting second for the first time all season, equaled a season high with three RBI.

Hamels failed in his attempt to become the NL's first double-digit winner. He lasted just five innings, allowing six runs and eight hits in his shortest outing of the season.

"It ticks me off," Hamels said. "When you give up five runs in the first two innings, you don't put yourself in a good spot and you don't put your team in a good spot."

Cleveland jumped on Hamels from the beginning.

Sizemore led off the game with a bunt single and immediately stole second. After a Barfield single, Sizemore scored on Casey Blake's groundout. Barfield came around to score on Jhonny Peralta's double for a 2-0 edge

The only thing missing from the Indians' offensive explosion was a hit from Blake, who saw his major league-high 26-game hitting streak snapped, going hitless in three at-bats.

"It just wasn't in the cards," Blake said. "I just feel fortunate to be in the lineup that many days in a row. It's going to be something I can look back on. There are a lot of great hitters that haven't had a 26-game hitting streak."