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May 18, 2008

Every Given Sunday

Lightning in a Bottle, Thunder in the Bronx

by John Perrotto

Cliff Lee says he has not discovered any kind of magic formula or developed a new pitch or altered his workout routine this season. “I’m pretty much the same pitcher I’ve always been,” the Cleveland Indians left-hander insisted. “I’m just on a pretty good roll.”

That would be the understatement of understatements. Lee is off to one of the best starts of any pitcher in baseball history. Lee, 29, takes a 6-0 record and a 0.67 ERA through seven starts into today’s marquee matchup at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati against Reds right-hander Edinson Volquez, who is 6-1 with a 1.12 ERA after eight stats. Lee leads the major leagues in SNLVAR with 2.8, but Volquez is right behind him at 2.6.

Only two major league pitchers in the last 60 years have had a better ERA than Lee through their first seven starts of a season: Fernando Valenzuela had a 0.29 mark for the 1981 Dodgers and Mike Norris stood at 0.45 for the 1980 Athletics. Lee has allowed only five runs, four earned, and 32 hits in 53 2/3 innings while compiling a phenomenal 44/4 strikeout/walk ratio.

Asked again for an explanation, Lee deflects credit for the hot start. “It’s been a lot of things,” he said. “The guys have played great defense behind me all season. We have a lot of Gold Glove-type players on this team and it makes it a lot easier for me. I can let the hitters put the ball in play because I know plays are going to be made behind me. I don’t have to try to strike everyone out. I’ve also had my share of luck. Some balls that have been hit hard have been right at guys. On my end, the biggest thing is that I’ve been throwing strikes. If you throw strikes, you always give yourself a chance as a pitcher.”

Lee takes a streak of 16 consecutive scoreless innings into today’s start and pitched nine shutout inning in his last outing Monday against the Blue Jays, a game the Indians lost 3-0 in 10 innings. He has also had a streak of 27 consecutive shutout innings this season and a stretch where he went 28 innings without a walk. Furthermore, Lee has held opponents scoreless in 51 of the 53 full innings he has worked, and retired the side in order 36 times.