Cliff Lee pitched eight innings of scoreless, eight hit ball. Rafael Perez insured Lee his 16th win with a lock-down ninth, and the Cleveland Indians won 4-0 over the Toronto Blue Jays Sunday afternoon. Lee is now 16-2 on the season with a 2.45 ERA.
The Indians offense jumped on the Jays 2-0 in the first and never looked back. Grady Sizemore led off with a single. David Dellucci doubled him home and after a Kelly Shoppach strikeout, Jhonny Peralta singled home Dellucci for the early lead.
The Indians added a run in the third on a two-out Shin-Soo Choo double and a Ryan Garko single to left that scored Choo.
In the eighth, they’d strike for their fourth of the game. Taking advantage of a lead-off Garko single, Franklin Gutierrez walked, and Sizemore singled home Garko.
The Blue Jays came the closest to getting to Lee in the fifth. Stringing together a single and a bunt single, they had runners at first and second with nobody out when Cliff Lee helped himself out. The Jays went to the bunt again, trying to advance the runners and Lee fielded it cleanly, throwing to third and picking off the lead runner. Lee got the next batter to ground into the inning-ending double play, keeping his shutout intact.
Rafael Perez continued his pitching dominance, striking out the side in a 1-2-3 ninth inning. The Indians come home Monday night to face a struggling Baltimore Orioles team. Fausto Carmona (5-4, 4.46 ERA) pitches against Dennis Sarfate (4-2, 4.58 ERA). Game time is 7:05.
Cleveland will play the next ten at home, the first four against the Orioles, three against the Angels, and three against Kansas City. The Indians are 6-4 in their last ten and 5-1 in the last six. They are one game back of the Kansas City Royals for last place in the AL Central. Cleveland is 52-64. Kansas City is 54-64. The White Sox lead the division by 13 games over the Indians at 65-51.
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