AMERICAN LEAGUE Satisfied Lee guides Tribe to 8-3 win over D'Rays

In his third start of the season, the left-handeder ace allowed two runs.
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) -- Cliff Lee felt in control the entire time he was on the mound.
The left-handed rookie threw eight sharp innings, and Ryan Ludwick and Casey Blake homered as the Cleveland Indians beat the Tampa Bay Devil Rays 8-3 Friday night.
"Completely satisfied," Lee said. "I try to be confident. I try to go out there and speed up the tempo of the game. The defense likes a guy that goes out and picks up the pace and goes after guys."
Lee (2-1) allowed two runs, six hits and struck out seven in his third start of the season. He retired his last nine batters.
"He has a tremendous focus out there and on top of that he's a competitor," Indians manager Eric Wedge said.
Ludwick hit his homer in the third inning and Blake hit his in the fourth. Both came with two outs and were off Joe Kennedy (3-10).
"The pitches were probably mistakes," Blake said. "I don't think he put those pitches where he wanted them."
Ludwick also had a run-scoring single during a four-run, seventh for Cleveland, which has won 11 of 17 since Aug. 6.
Struggled
Kennedy allowed eight runs and six hits over 6 1-3 innings. The Devil Rays opening day starter is 0-5 with a 7.33 ERA in nine starts since returning from a left shoulder injury on July 9.
"It's been a struggle for him," Tampa Bay manager Lou Piniella said. "I just haven't seen the consistency. I really haven't."
Kennedy is winless in 12 starts overall, dating back to May 13.
"It's frustrating," Kennedy said. "I had pretty good stuff. I made two bad pitches. It's how my season has been going."
Aubrey Huff hit a solo homer in the ninth for the Devil Rays. Rocco Baldelli and Adam Piatt had the other Tampa Bay RBIs.
Julio Lugo started the Devil Rays two-run fourth with a triple.
Nice play
Indians right fielder Alex Escobar just missed catching the drive near the foul line after a long run. He then fell over a short wall in foul territory and disappeared into the Rays Bullpen Cafe.
Escobar climbed over the wall and tracked down the ball in time to keep Lugo at third.
"If he had caught it, it probably would have been the play of the week," Lee said. "He gave it a good effort. He's going full speed and goes over the wall like that. You can't ask for anymore."
Wedge was happy Escobar wasn't hurt.
"I was worried that he wasn't going to get up at all," Wedge said. "I'm glad he got up and got the ball in. He just missed getting there."
Lugo scored on Baldelli's single. Piatt added a sacrifice fly to make it 4-2.
Coco Crisp, Matt Lawton and Ludwick had RBI singles in the seventh as the Indians took an 8-2 lead. Crisp scored from third on Jorge Sosa's wild pitch.
Ludwick is 10-for-24 with two homers and nine RBIs over his past five games.
"He's at his best in RBI situations, which is something you definitely like," Wedge said.