INDIANS Lee gives bullpen a rest in 11-2 rout against Orioles

The Tribe's starter went seven innings and Travis Hafner led the offense.
CLEVELAND (AP) -- When the door to Cleveland's bullpen finally swung open, nobody gasped, panicked or ran for the exits.
Cliff Lee pitched seven strong innings and Travis Hafner had four RBIs, leading the Indians to a 11-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles on Friday night.
Lee (3-0) allowed one run and five hits -- only two after a shaky first inning -- in his longest outing this season.
"It's good that I finally got to see the seventh inning," Lee said.
But more importantly, the left-hander gave most of the Indians' relievers another day's rest. Cleveland's frazzled bullpen was coming off a 9-8 loss in Chicago on Wednesday when it gave up five runs in the ninth. Before the game, Indians manager Eric Wedge said David Riske had temporarily lost his closer's job.
Lee made one unnecessary.
"It's good to give them another day off," Wedge said. "But we're not shying away from anything. Next time we're in a tight situation we're going to go down there and expect them to get the job done."
Shut down good team
Lee shut down one of the league's best hitting teams. The Orioles entered the three-game series ranked second in the AL with a .293 average and had at least 10 hits in 10 of their previous 15 games.
"We had two quick hits, and then nothing, blah, nothing," Orioles manager Lee Mazzilli said.
Omar Vizquel had a two-run double in the second off Baltimore starter Sidney Ponson (2-2), and the Indians built a 7-1 lead after four innings while coasting to a rare, easy win.
Ponson was tagged for six earned runs and nine hits in 3 2/3 innings. He dropped to 0-6 in 11 career games against Cleveland, the only AL team he has yet to beat.
"I'm not talking to you guys tonight," Ponson said, waving reporters away from his locker.
Luis Matos homered in the eighth for Baltimore, which has dropped 16 of its last 19 at Jacobs Field.
Matches career-highs
Hafner doubled in two runs in the first and matched his career-high for RBIs in the sixth with another two-run double to make it 9-1.
Cleveland scored four in the first off Ponson, who gave up three straight singles to open the inning but initially kept the Indians from scoring by getting Casey Blake to hit into a forceout at the plate.
Hafner, though, followed with his first double and Victor Martinez's RBI groundout made it 3-0. Ronnie Belliard capped the inning with a run-scoring single.
"We broke out early and we kept it going," Wedge said. "Cliff struggled early but he got it together."
The Orioles got two quick hits and scored in the first against Lee, but could do little else over the next six innings in their first matchup against the 25-year-old.
"He made a lot of good pitches and mixed it up," said Orioles rookie Darnell McDonald, who had faced Lee in the minors. "He kept us off balance and on our toes."
Vizquel doubles home pair
Cleveland added two more runs in the second when Alex Escobar doubled, Matt Lawton singled and Vizquel brought them both in with a double down the right-field line.
Matos connected for first homer in the eighth off reliever Scott Stewart, but otherwise it was a quiet night for Cleveland's bullpen.
Kaz Tadano pitched a scoreless ninth in his second major league appearance for the Indians.