CLEVELAND — Cliff Lee made his closing argument Friday night to start for the American League in the upcoming All-Star Game. It added to an already strong case from the left-hander.
In his final outing prior to the All-Star break, Lee continued his brilliant bounce-back season, pitching the Indians to a 5-0 victory over Tampa Bay. The win was Cleveland’s second straight over the majors’ top team.
Lee (12-2, 2.31) worked six shutout innings, allowing five hits and striking out seven, to pad his impressive statistics, which have him tied for the league lead in wins and second in ERA.
The sparkling performance comes a year after Lee was demoted to the minors during a season on the brink, which forced him to earn a spot in Cleveland’s rotation this spring.  
“I still feel like there’s things I could do better,” said Lee, who posted a 5-8 record and 6.29 ERA in 20 appearances (16 starts) last year. “I’ve never been one to be happy with where I’m at.
“It’s not like I surprised myself. Confidence has never been an issue.”
Lee’s competition for the All-Star start at Yankee Stadium includes the Angels’ Joe Saunders (12-5, 3.07), Toronto’s Roy Halladay (11-6, 2.71), Oakland’s Justin Duchscherer (10-5, 1.78) and New York’s Mike Mussina (11-6, 3.61). AL All-Star manager Terry Francona (Boston) will make the decision Monday.
“I’m just happy to be there,” Lee said. “If they choose me to be the starter, I would be ecstatic. That would just be icing on the cake.”
Whether he gets the nod or not, Lee hits the break on a positive note, winning for the first time in three starts, while allowing two runs or fewer for the sixth time in his last seven outings and for the 13th time in 18 starts overall. It was the sixth time Lee has held the opponent without an earned run.
He allowed hits in each of the innings he worked — four leadoff hitters reached — but just one runner to advance past second base.
“It seemed like the leadoff hitter was on base every inning,” Lee said. “Other than that, I was happy with how it went.”
The four-game series against the last-place Indians appeared to be perfect tonic for the Rays to hit the break in stride, but with two losses in the first two games, Tampa Bay needs two wins to split the four-game series.  
The Indians won for the second straight time after ending a 10-game losing streak in the series opener Thursday, their longest skid since 1979.
The loss, Tampa Bay’s season-high fifth straight, accounted for the Rays’ 11th consecutive defeat in Cleveland.
“It’s baseball,” said Indians manager Eric Wedge of the surprising results. “There are no absolutes. There’s nothing definite.”
Lee got plenty of offensive support, with Cleveland’s hitters coming out swinging for the second straight night.
The Indians chased a hot Tampa Bay starter in James Shields (7-6, 3.83) after just six innings, scoring five times on 10 hits off the right-hander, who entered the start riding a four-game winning streak. It was just the fourth time in 19 starts Shields allowed five runs or more.
“We saw some good stuff offensively tonight,” Wedge said.
Jhonny Peralta and Ben Francisco supplied the bulk of Cleveland’s offense, accounting for half of the hits.
Peralta, one of Cleveland’s hottest hitters as of late, drove in the Indians’ first three runs with a double in the first and a two-run home run in the third – his 15th of the season, which leads all AL shortstops.
He has hit safely in five straight games, driving in nine runs over the span. Over his last 23 games, Peralta is batting .347 (33-for-95) with 15 doubles, four homers and 20 RBIs.
Francisco has begun to emerge from a mini-slump, collecting hits in each of his first three trips to the plate. He put Cleveland in front 4-0 in the fifth with his second and one of his team’s five doubles on the night.   
As expected, the Indians made a move following the game, optioning reliever Brian Slocum back to Triple-A Buffalo to clear room for Bison right-hander Matt Ginter, who is scheduled to start tonight against the Rays.
Contact Chris Assenheimer at 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com.

TONIGHT

WHO: Cleveland vs. Tampa Bay
TIME: 7:05
WHERE: Progressive Field
PITCHERS: Ginker (first start) vs. Garza (7-4, 3.51)
TV/RADIO: Channel 3; WEOL 930-AM, WTAM 1100-AM

 

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