CLEVELAND — If you can’t beat ’em, Lee ’em.
Unsuccessful in their first two attempts against the San Francisco Giants, the Indians turned to Cliff Lee to avoid the home-front sweep Thursday night at Progressive Field.
As he has done for the majority of the season, Lee responded in brilliant fashion, pitching Cleveland past San Francisco, 4-1, for just the Indians’ third win in nine games. The first pitch was delayed an hour and 42 minutes by rain.
The Indians remained in last place in the Central Division, but are now tied with Kansas City, which was idle Thursday. Both teams trail the first-place White Sox by 71/2 games.
Lee (11-1, 2.34 ERA) was about as dominant as a pitcher can be outside of tossing a shutout, allowing a run on just four hits, while striking out a career-high 11 batters over eight innings.
The performance came at an opportune time, with the Indians holding down last place this late in the season for the first time since they were members of the American League East in 1993. Lee is 8-1 after a Cleveland loss.
“We need to win every game,” said Lee, who retired 10 of the first 11 batters he faced and 10 of the last 12, striking out the side in the second and seventh innings against the same batters. “Every day we come here we should expect to win. Hopefully we can start a nice little winning streak and keep going.”
Lee’s effort was a continuation of a surprisingly stellar season that began with the left-hander having to earn a spot in the rotation, following a subpar 2007 — a year that he was demoted to the minors for much of the season.
This year, Lee has been spectacular and as steady as it comes, allowing more than three runs in just three of his 15 starts.
“He really has been unbelievably consistent,” said Indians manager Eric Wedge. “What continues to stick out for me is just his focus from pitch to pitch and how he keeps that mental focus throughout the ballgame.”
Lee has thrust his name into early AL Cy Young Award talk, with the left-hander a shoo-in to make the All-Star team and possibly start the game at Yankee Stadium. His main competition at this point includes Los Angeles’ Joe Saunders (11-3, 3.03), Oakland’s Justin Duchscherer (8-4, 1.99) and New York’s Mike Mussina (10-5, 3.93), with Lee’s statistics trumping them all.
“I would think so,” said Wedge, when asked if Lee was a candidate to start the Midsummer Classic. “He’s had an unbelievable year.”
Lee is keeping his focus on the mound.
“I think about my next opponent,” said Lee, when asked if he thought about making the All-Star team. “I try not to get too far ahead of that.”
Lee was backed by a sufficient display from an Indians’ offense that had slipped back into slump mode recently, scoring just four runs in the first two games against the Giants.
Of Cleveland’s four runs on the night, three came in the third off Giants starter Matt Cain.
A one-out triple from Jamey Carroll scored the first, with Jhonny Peralta’s two-run double putting the Indians in front 3-0.
Carroll also drove in Cleveland’s final run with a two-out single in the fourth, going 2-for-3 to produce his sixth multi-hit effort in his last 15 games. 
“Jamey’s been so consistent for a long period of time,” Wedge said.
Carroll, a utility infielder who took over for an injured Josh Barfield, is batting .429 (24-for-56) with seven RBIs in his last 15 games.
Indians fans got what figures to be their last live look at longtime shortstop Omar Vizquel, who is nearing the final stage of his illustrious career.
The 11-time Gold Glove Award winner went just 1-for-10 during the series, dropping his season average to a paltry .165 (19-for-115). 
Sensing that they had seen the last of one of the most popular players to wear a Cleveland uniform, the Progressive Field crowd rose to its feet to applaud Vizquel after he flied to center in his final at-bat in the eighth inning. Vizquel waved to the fans as he made his way to the visiting dugout.
Contact Chris Assenheimer at 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com.

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