Deep Left Field | A Cleveland Indians Blog

Cliff Lee for Cy Young!

Hey, at this point in the season there is no reason why he shouldn’t be considered.  Unfortunately, the same goes for Dana Eveland.  Just kidding, but Cliff Lee served up a great performance in Oakland on Sunday afternoon, shutting the A’s down for six 2/3 innings, giving up one unearned run on four hits as the Tribe defeated the Oakland Athletics, 2-1.  It was a win that was indicative of the 2007 season in the sense that it was close throughout, and the bullpen shut a team down after the offense managed to scrap and fight for a lead.  And this time Joe Borowski managed to not implode in Oakland.

At least there was some valid excuse for the Indians’ lack of offense on this day, as they were up against Joe Blanton.  With the team striking out at an alarming rate and swinging at nearly every first pitch, it will be a major relief to see Victor Martinez hopefully back in the lineup, offering some sense of stability.  However, the overly eager mentality was a problem last year as well and it contributed to a few painful stretches where a run was coveted like a drop of water in the desert.  As usual, it makes the pitching that much more important.  Lee has less pressure on him as the fifth starter, and Sunday’s game had to be a huge confidence boost.

• Sign that the world could be ending very shortly: Both David Dellucci and Jason Michaels were in the lineup on Sunday…at the same time…hitting back-to-back.