Wed Jun 4 11:17:21 2008

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Rangers to take swings at Indians' Lee

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(Sports Network) - Cleveland Indians starter Cliff Lee will try to pitch his team back into the win column tonight, when the Tribe resumes a four-game series against the Texas Rangers in Arlington.

Lee has won back-to-back starts to improve to 8-1 with a 1.87 earned run average in 10 trips to the mound this season. He last took the hill Friday at Kansas City and hurled six innings of four-run ball to collect the win in a 5-4 decision over the Royals.

Lee, who won his first six starts of 2008, is now 5-1 in six outings on the road this season.

The veteran left-hander defeated Texas on May 24 at Progressive Field, allowing a pair of runs and seven hits in 6 2/3 innings of a 5-2 triumph. Lee is 4-2 with a 5.80 earned run average in six career appearances against the Rangers.

Cleveland fell to 2-3 on an 11-game road trip following Tuesday's 12-7 loss to the Rangers in the second test of this set. Indians starter Tom Mastny, who was recalled on Monday from Triple-A Buffalo, made his first major league start and struggled. He gave up five runs on six hits in just 1 1/3 frames to suffer the loss.

Ryan Garko led Cleveland's offense with three hits, while Shin-Soo Choo entered the game as a pinch-hitter and went 2-for-2 with a homer, double and three RBI for the Indians, who have lost three of four and 13 of 17 games.

Texas' Josh Hamilton homered for the fourth straight game, while David Murphy also went deep and finished with four hits. Milton Bradley hit a pair of solo home runs and Jarrod Saltalamacchia added a solo shot in the win.

Texas starter A.J. Murray, who was recalled from Triple-A Oklahoma on Monday, allowed one run after 2 1/3 innings but left the game with a strained rotator cuff. His status for his next start is uncertain.

Frank Francisco followed Murray and threw 1 2/3 frames, allowing one unearned run, to pick up the win.

Sidney Ponson will handle the pitching assignment for the Rangers tonight and he is 4-1 with a 3.83 ERA in eight starts this season. Ponson beat Oakland his most recent time out on Saturday, yielding four runs and nine hits in seven frames of an 8-4 victory.

The right-handed Ponson is making his start on three days' rest, since Vicente Padilla is on bereavement leave and Kevin Millwood is tending to a personal issue. He hasn't fared too well in his career against the Tribe, going 0-7 with a 9.47 earned run average in 12 games (11 starts).

Texas won two of three from the Indians earlier in the year, but is just 10-13 in the series since the start of the 2006 campaign. Cleveland has also won six of its last eight in Arlington.