Cliff Lee is back. Not to the thrilling days of yesteryear, although close enough to make every fifth day special for an Indians team that looks longingly at ordinary.
Wednesday he shut out the Chicago White Sox on six hits over seven innings at Progressive Field, and the bullpen finished the job. He outpitched Chicago's Mark Buehrle, who was in the top five in earned run average going into the game, and gave the Tribe the series. Winning one game, then one series is something manager Eric Wedge preaches constantly, so say "Amen!" because the Indians have now won two! They have played 12, however. "Baby steps," said the embattled manager.
Last season, Lee walked in the footsteps of the best there were since they juiced the ball for the Babe after Prohibition came in. Lee's 22-3 Cy Young award-winning season was second to Lefty Grove's 23-2 in 1931 for pitchers in their first 25 decisions since 1920. No one expected a repeat of that, least of all Lee. "To win 22 games so many things have to go right. There are so many variables out of my control," the Indians' left-hander said.
"I didn't put any extra pressure on myself."
He had a bad outing in the season opener against the Texas Rangers. He was better, but not good in his second outing. He gave up 11 runs in his first two starts.
Over his past six starts, he has a 1.43 ERA in 44 innings pitched - and only a 2-3 record to show for it. They are, with a twist, Cy Young numbers because Denton True Young batted .210 for his career. The Tribe had wasted Lee's string of good outings because they are a slow team that strikes out a lot. It is hard to think of a more concise recipe for futility, but that is the team the Wedge/Mark Shapiro partnership has wrought.
But the long ball (the bright, sunny-side up of big swings) gave Lee the early lead. It was 4-0 when he faced his only tests in the sixth and seventh.
He struck out Jermaine Dye with the bases loaded in the sixth, tying him up with a called strike on the inside corner. It looked like a strike in real time and on replay, but Dye reacted by flipping his bat, then spiking his helmet into the ground, where a bad hop took it into plate umpire Mike DiMuro's shins. DiMuro had seen and felt enough, so Dye was thumbed. Soon, manager Ozzie Guillen joined him.
He got Carlos Quentin to fly out with the bases loaded in the seventh, finishing a 113-pitch effort in which he threw 83 strikes and went 0-and-1 on 19 of the 27 men he faced.
It is usually this way when the White Sox face Lee. He has shut them out for 20 consecutive innings, dating to last year.
"Stay out of hitter's counts like 2-0 and 3-1," Lee said, reciting his mantra. "Mix speeds. Throw strikes. They got some broken-bat hits, some dribblers, a bunt hit. I don't get upset by that. It validates me and what I expect of myself."
A veteran like Lee takes the inequities of the game as best he can. He cannot control what happens when the Indians are at bat. He cannot control what happens when he doesn't pitch. He has the strength of tight focus and the reinforcement of realistic expectations, even in the wake of a fantasy season. The results are different, but the process is the same as when he won almost everything.
To reach Bill Livingston: blivingston@plaind.com, 216-999-4672
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