Cliff Lee had an unassisted triple play turned for him
in Game 2 of a doubleheader with the Blue Jays on Monday night, but he couldn't
get any offensive support.
Lee's nine scoreless innings went to waste, as did his
bid to become the first Indians pitcher in 86 years to win his first seven
starts in a season.
Rather than ride Lee's coattails to a doubleheader and
four-game series sweep of the Jays, the Indians saw reliever Rafael Betancourt
give up the go-ahead runs in the 10th inning of a 3-0 loss at Progressive Field.
The Tribe bats were stymied by right-hander Shaun
Marcum, who limited them to two hits with no walks and five strikeouts over
eight scoreless innings.
Lee, meanwhile, allowed just seven hits with two walks
and five strikeouts in his nine scoreless innings of work. In the fifth, he was
the beneficiary of just the 14th unassisted triple play in Major League history,
when, with two on, Asdrubal Cabrera caught a Lyle Overbay liner, stepped on
second to retire Kevin Mench and tagged out Marco Scutaro.
Lee handed the ball over to Betancourt, who quickly let
the Jays load the bases in the 10th. Shannon Stewart drove a fly ball to deep
center for a sacrifice fly, and Aaron Hill added a two-run single to center to
make it 3-0.
Up until that point, the Indians had held the Jays to 31
consecutive scoreless innings, just two shy of the Jays' all-time record streak
of futility, set in May 1981. But the Indians' bats were the silent ones in this
loss.