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Indians' Lee makes season debut vs. Blue Jays

May 3, 2007 - 3:14 PM Toronto (13-14) at Cleveland (16-8) 7:05 pm EDT

CLEVELAND (Ticker) -- Cliff Lee will make his season debut for the streaking Cleveland Indians when they look to complete a three-game sweep of the Toronto Blue Jays ON Thursday.

A reliable lefthander, Lee (NR) went 14-11 with a 4.40 ERA in 33 starts for the Indians last season. But he was sidelined in spring training due to a strained abdominal muscle.

The lefthander has struggled against the Blue Jays in his career, going 0-2 with a 5.40 ERA in three starts.

Lee returns to the surging Indians, who have won four straight games and are in first place in the tough American League Central. Cleveland is 6-1 entering the final contest of its eight-game road trip.

But Lee might be making a timely return for the Indians, who may have lost starter Jake Westbrook. In Wednesday's 7-6 win in 11 innings over Toronto, he lasted just 1 1/3 innings, leaving the game in the second after an injury that was later described as lower abdominal tightness.

In that contest, Travis Hafner's RBI double in the bottom of the 11th inning off reliever Shaun Marcum was the difference.

The Blue Jays will counter with Dustin McGowan (NR), who was called up from Class AAA Syracuse after Gustavo Chacin went on the 15-day disabled list with a shoulder injury. He was 0-2 with a 1.64 ERA in five starts in the minors this campaign.