Lee pitches Indians past Mariners, 4-1

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CLEVELAND (AP) — Cliff Lee finally got just a little run support. It was enough for the reigning AL Cy
Young Award winner.
Lee won for the first time in more than a month, allowing one run in his second complete game of the
season to give the ClevelandIndians a 4-1 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Thursday night.
"He showed why he was the Cy Young winner last year," Seattle manager Don Wakamatsu said.
"He never kept anything in the middle of the plate. We had a hit every inning, which is hard to do,
but we couldn’t capitalize on it and put anything together."
Lee (5-9) hadn’t won since a three-hit shutout against St. Louis on June 14, when he took a no-hitter
into the eighth inning. He had lost three straight starts, thanks mostly to a lack of run support. The
Indians have scored three runs or less in 11 of Lee’s 20 starts.
"We got some runs early," Lee said. "We got a nice lead and I got ahead in the count.
That’s how you win games."
Lee allowed nine hits, including Ronny Cedeno’s solo homer in the fifth inning. He also struck out six
and didn’t walk a batter. Even after Kenji Johjima singled with two out in the ninth for his third hit
of the game Indians manager Eric Wedge gave no thought to removing Lee, who struck out Chris Woodward to
end it.
"It was Cliff’s game," Wedge said. "He was in control."
The Mariners stranded seven, but didn’t get a runner past second base other than on Cedeno’s home run.

"When people are on base, that’s where you have to bear down and get out of it," said Lee, who
is 8-1 with a 3.35 ERA in 12 career appearances against Seattle.
Grady Sizemore, batting leadoff for the first time since May 16, had two hits and drove in a run. He also
banged into the center field wall after catching Cedeno’s fly ball in the third inning.
"There were some unbelievable defensive plays behind me," Lee said.
Besides Sizemore’s catch, Lee was also helped by a dazzling double play in the seventh. Shortstop
Asdrubal Cabrera fielded Cedeno’s ground ball in front of second base and made a behind-the-back flip to
Jamey Carroll, who threw to first.
"I don’t think anyone saw the behind-the-back throw," Wedge said. "I’m glad Jamey Carroll
saw it. It would have hit him right in the chest."
Garrett Olson (3-3) allowed three runs in 2 2-3 innings in his first start since July 4 for the Mariners,
who made four errors.
Ichiro Suzuki extended his hitting streak to 12 games with a third-inning single, but it was a sloppy
first game after the All-Star break for the Mariners. First baseman Russell Branyan committed two errors
while pitcher Chris Jakubauskas and Woodward, the third baseman, had one each.
"The guys had three days off. The timing just wasn’t there," Wakamatsu said.

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