Lee leads the way as Tribe clubs A’s

Sunday’s 7-1 win salvaged the finale of Cleveland’s third consecutive series loss.

GATEHOUSE NEWS SERVICE

CLEVELAND — Never a doubt.

When Cliff Lee reported to spring training, he was told he must battle fellow left-handers Jeremy Sowers and Aaron Laffey for the No. 5 spot in Cleveland’s starting pitching rotation. Lee, however, never really spent a lot of time in Winter Haven pondering his personal Plan B.

“I felt like, if I pitched the way I knew I could, I had the job,” Lee said.

Lee earned back the job he lost in 2007, and his revival has gotten off to an encouraging start so far. He allowed one run over eight innings Sunday during a 7-1 victory over Oakland that salvaged the finale of the Tribe’s third consecutive series loss.

The A’s might have been rooting for Laffey and Sowers, had they known they were about to be shut down by Lee (2-0) for the second time in six days.

“Cliff’s always had a great deal of confidence,” Indians manager Eric Wedge said. “His mindset coming into spring training was, he was going to be on this club.”

Lee retired the last 14 batters he faced after giving up a fourth-inning RBI single to Mark Ellis. He struck out eight and did not issue a walk while pitching in extreme cold (28-degree wind chill at game time) and heavy winds.

“I talked to [catcher] Victor Martinez on the way in, and we decided to attack them the same way as last time,” said Lee, who had allowed only an unearned run over 62‚Ñ3 innings during a 2-1 April 6 victory in Oakland. “I was really locating my fastball. I threw a ton of fastballs and not too many offspeed pitches until the last two innings. Then they started cheating a bit, so I threw more changeups and curveballs.”

Of Lee’s 102 pitches Sunday, 67 were for strikes.

“It’s tough to face a pitcher who’s always 0-1, 0-2,” Martinez said. “Cliff is a pretty aggressive pitcher. When you can pitch ahead [in the count], then you can use your other stuff.”

The Indians hit enough to snap their three-game losing streak as well as Oakland’s five-game winning streak.

Chad Gaudin (0-1) hit a batter and walked a batter in the third inning before Travis Hafner dropped a two-run single into center field that just eluded Chris Denorfia’s diving attempt. Gaudin assisted the Indians on their third run, uncorking a wild throw on Andy Marte’s sacrifice bunt that allowed Jamey Carroll to scamper to third. Caroll later scored on Grady Sizemore’s hit.

The Indians then broke the game open in the eighth via four runs off Fernando Hernandez. A Franklin Gutierrez double was sandwiched by two walks. Sizemore’s two-out, two-run single was followed immediately by David Dellucci’s two-out, two-run single to right.

“I found a hole, finally,” said Dellucci, who had been 0-for-3. “I hit the ball right on the sweet spot of the bat and found an open area.”

Carroll reached safely in all four plate appearances. Ryan Garko, who singled and walked, has reached in all 12 games this season.