Cleveland Indians Show Signs of Life, Beat Oakland A's

Cliff Lee did on Sunday afternoon what Fausto Carmona was unable to do Saturday night.  Lee stopped the Indians' losing streak with a brilliant pitching performance in a 7-1 Tribe victory over the Oakland A's.

Lee pitched eight innings of two hits and one run ball, keeping the A's hitters off balance all afternoon by racking up eight strikeouts.

Lee has seemed confident and healthy in both his starts to date and has been able to mix his pitches effectively, something he was unable to do all of 2007.

The Indians’ offense also showed signs of life as they were able to put up seven runs in spurts. This is contrary to their recent trend of a couple one-run innings in just one big inning.

Travis Hafner delivered a two-run single in the third to put the Tribe up 2-0, and that was all the Indians needed. Grady Sizemore delivered a RBI single in the fifth and then a two-run knock in the ninth to put the Indians up 5-0.

David Dellucci immediately followed with a two-run hit to make it 7-1.

Jamey Carroll proved to be a nice spark plug on the afternoon, going 1-1 with two walks and a HBP. This led to Carroll scoring three of the Indians' seven runs.

With his hustle and stellar glove work, Carroll may be on his way to endearing himself to the Tribe faithful.

Even if he doesn't, he has proved to be more than adequate when Eric Wedge feels the need to give Asdrubal Cabrera a day off.

Hopefully, he will not devolve into another Ramon Vasquez or Mike Rouse.

It was also nice to see David Dellucci finally deliver in the clutch. After a very slow start (0-8), I was surprised to see the Looch is hitting .273 with a .467 on-base percentage.

He's drawn six walks and scored six runs while only striking out two times. The power and RBIs have yet to come, but the Looch has not been a total waste, as Jason Michaels has been to date.

Hopefully, this can kick start the Indians' offense, which has been dormant for the first part of 2008.

Grady Sizemore continues to dial in, but a healthy Victor and revitalized Pronk hold the keys to the offense's future.  A great test this week with the defending world champion Red Sox and division rival Tigers in town. A great test for the Tribe's mettle.

It's Tribe Time Now. Believe land.