CLEVELAND — Cliff Lee has been the only thing worth watching these days for the Indians. Tuesday night at Progressive Field, it would have served Cleveland fans well to close their eyes.
For one of the few times this year, the reigning American League Cy Young Award winner was roughed up, paving the way for a lopsided 11-4 loss to the White Sox. It was Cleveland’s 13th defeat in 16 games.
After a series of rain delays, the game was mercifully called with two outs in the top of the seventh.
“It was a bad outing. There’s no way around it,” said Lee, who allowed seven runs on 11 hits through just three-plus innings. “That’s not what my job description is.”
In addition to losing the game, Lee saw his major league-high streak of working at least five innings snapped at 47 consecutive starts. Lee (4-7, 3.39 ERA) also saw his consecutive scoreless innings streak against the White Sox snapped at 22 in his shortest start since he lasted 22/3 innings in an
11-0 loss to the Sox on May 29, 2006.
The left-hander lost his scoreless streak just three batters into the game when Jermaine Dye’s double scored Alexei Ramirez.
The next batter, Paul Konerko, hit a two-run home run and Gordon Beckham drove in a run with a single in Chicago’s four-run first.
Lee didn’t allow a run in the second but the Sox touched him up for two more in the third. They scored another in the fourth on three consecutive hits before Lee was removed with nobody out.
“I need to get deeper into the game,” Lee said. “I need to give up less runs. I need to give our team a chance to win the game. I didn’t do any of those things.
“It seemed like they knew what was coming every pitch.”
Of the 11 hits Lee allowed, six were for extra bases. Chicago outhit Cleveland 17-4 with nine extra-base hits (three homers). He entered the night on a roll, going 4-4 with a 2.23 ERA over his last 14 starts.
“I just think he was a little off tonight and they were swinging the bats well,” Cleveland manager Eric Wedge said of his ace. “He’s been good for so long, you’re bound to have a night like that every now and again. He’s human.
“I think we get a little bit spoiled by him because he’s been so consistent and so good for so long.”
As has been the case for the last three games, the Indians did little offensively, with Sox starter Clayton Richard allowing just a run on one hit through the first four innings — Travis Hafner’s solo homer with two outs in the second.
The Indians cut the deficit to 9-4 in the fifth on a bases-clearing double from Asdrubal Cabrera, but Chicago came back with two more runs off Mike Gosling in the next inning.
Cleveland, which entered the night ranked third in the majors with 399 runs, has scored just seven in its last three games.
Weather was a factor the entire night. The threat of impending rain delayed the start of the game by 32 minutes, then showers halted the action on two more occasions, once for 30 minutes in the fourth inning and for the final time in the seventh (57 minutes).
Contact Chris Assenheimer at 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com.

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