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Struggling Indians need strong effort from Lee

Jun 26, 2008 - 1:05 PM San Francisco (34-44) at Cleveland (35-43) 7:05 pm. EDT

CLEVELAND (Ticker) -- The slumping Cleveland Indians will rely on Cliff Lee to turn in another strong start on Thursday as they try and salvage the finale of a three-game interleague series with the San Francisco Giants.

The Indians, who are batting just .245 as a team, were held to just six hits in a 4-1 loss on Wednesday. Adding insult to injury, it was struggling lefthander Barry Zito that handcuffed them to earn just his third win of the season.

Cleveland, which has lost six of eight, hopes Lee can turn the tables on the Giants.

Lee (10-1, 2.45 ERA), who is looking for his fifth straight winning decision, has not lost since May 18. The lefthander held the Los Angeles Dodgers to one run and six hits in 7 1/3 innings, but did not factor into the decision in a 6-4 win on Friday.

The Indians will have Jhonny Peralta back in the lineup after the shortstop sat out Wednesday's game. Peralta's presence should help, as he is second on the team with 11 home runs.

Peralta and Cleveland will face Matt Cain (4-5, 4.31), who has allowed just six earned runs his last 15 innings while striking out 19 in that span. The 23-year-old righthander allowed four runs - three earned - and five hits in eight innings of a 9-4 win over Kansas City on Friday.