Cliff Lee News

"Tampa Bay might be the toast of Major League Baseball this season, but to the Indians they're still the hapless Devil Rays, the 1998 expansion team that has struggled to win and thrive in the Sunshine State. This year the Rays - they dropped the Devil from their name after last season - lead the AL East with 66 victories. It's as many wins as they had all last year, but they still can't beat the Indians. David Dellucci hit a tiebreaking two-run homer and Cliff Lee won his 15th game in the Tribe's 5-2 victory over Tampa on Monday night at Tropicana Field. The Indians are 5-0 against Tampa this season and 60-26 overall. "I have no idea why we've done so well against them," shortstop ..."

"Cliff Lee doesn't like off days during the season. Enforced rest goes against his nature. "If it was up to me, I'd bag all the days off if we could," said Lee, "but I know the position players need them." Manager Eric Wedge feels differently. So after Lee started the All-Star Game on Tuesday at Yankee Stadium, pitching two scoreless innings, Wedge gave him four days off before his first start of the second half. The start came Sunday and Lee, rested and efficient, pitched the Indians to a 6-2 victory over Seattle at Safeco Field. After losing 10 straight games, the Indians have won six of their past seven."

"Cliff Lee finally left the dugout in the 15th inning. It was about 1:15 a.m. Wednesday as he went to his locker and started to pack his bags. He figured someway, somehow he was eventually getting back to Cleveland. As Lee filled his equipment bags, it happened. The American League scored a run in the 15th inning to win the longest All-Star Game in history, 4-3, over the National League. "I should have done this a lot sooner," said Lee. The final All-Star Game played at Yankee Stadium lasted longer than any other. It ran 4 hours and 50 minutes. It was as if the game didn't want to say goodbye to The House That Ruth Built."

"Phillies fans are wondering whether a trip to the minors can help righthander Brett Myers turn his season around. The American League's starting pitcher in tonight's All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium knows a little something about the subject. Cleveland Indians lefthander Cliff Lee is 12-2 with a 2.31 earned run average."

"Cliff Lee said all the right things about being named the starter for the American League in tonight's All-Star Game. ''Honestly, I found out when I first got here and got all the paperwork and stuff,'' said the Indians' 12-game winner. ''There was a note in there that said I was going to be the starter."

"Cliff Lee is tonight's All-Star Game starting pitcher for the American League. Reaction, please? Grady Sizemore taking part in Monday night's Home Run Derby at Yankee Stadium might not have been as baffling as Lee getting the AL start, but it qualifies as a surprise. Sizemore - the AL home run leader at the break with 23 - hit 24 homers last year."

"The Milwaukee Brewers' Ben Sheets and Cleveland Indians' Cliff Lee were chosen Monday for their first All-Star Game starts. The right-handed Sheets, 10-3 with a 2.85 ERA, anchors a rotation that includes newly added CC Sabathia, who won his second game in as many starts with the Brewers on Sunday since being acquired in a trade with the Indians. Lee has picked up where 2007 AL Cy Young Award winner Sabathia left off. The left-handed Lee, who leads the AL in victories at 12-2 and is second with a 2.31 ERA, has persevered after having to earn a spot in the Cleveland rotation during spring training."

"The Indians seem determined to screw up the best story in baseball this year: the unexpected ascendance of the Tampa Bay Rays from the depths of the American League. But it figures. The Tribe has messed up just about everything else this season, though they kept most of the disarray in-house. Until Thursday night, when they clobbered the Rays 13-2 and followed that with a 5-0 win Friday night at Progressive Field."

"The Indians are eating dust in the AL Central, but they still put Cliff Lee and Grady Sizemore on the All-Star team. The All-Star Game will be played July 15 at Yankee Stadium in New York. Lee, who lost Sunday's game against the Twins, 4-3, has a chance to be the AL starting pitcher. A New York Post report naming Lee the starter was reportedly erroneous, but he remains a leading candidate. "I'd love a chance to start," said Lee, 11-2 with a 2.43 ERA. Charles Nagy was the most recent Indians pitcher to start an All-Star Game. He did it in 1996 in Pittsburgh after the Indians went to the World Series in 1995."

"The Indians fin ished their longest trip of the season Monday night amidst rain, heat and lightning at Comerica Park. The 11-game trip was supposed to show which way the Indians' season was headed. If the signs revealed in Kansas City, Mo., Arlington, Texas, and Detroit can be trusted, the Indians are going to need a lot more games like Monday's 8-2 victory over the Tigers to get this thing turned around."

"There's something about Rangers Ballpark in Arlington that brings out the fire in Cliff Lee. When Lee left Wednesday's game in the fifth inning, he was visibly upset with plate umpire Tim Timmons. He thought he had Brandon Boggs struck out to end the inning, but Timmons called the pitch a ball. Boggs, given a second chance, tripled to turn the Tribe's 6-5 lead into a 6-6 tie. Lee had already thrown 112 pitches and knew the fifth was his last inning."

"Cliff Lee's hits-to-strikeouts ratio in the first two innings Saturday night did not bode well for the immediate future. Then Lee brought his pitches down in the strike zone, and Ben Francisco sent an undisputed three-run homer up and over the left-field wall to help the Indians do something they hadn't done since Mid-May. It's called winning a ball game. The Indians beat the Texas Rangers, 5-2, at Progressive Field to end a seven-game losing streak. It was their longest losing streak since 2004."