Wed May 7 11:10:27 2008

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Unbeaten hurlers face off in Yankees-Indians tilt

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(Sports Network) - Cliff Lee tries to continue his amazing start to the season this evening, when the Cleveland Indians play the middle test of their three- game series with the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium.

Lee, who had to fight for a spot in the rotation in Spring Training, has been incredible for the Tribe in the early going, winning all five of his starts while pitching to a miniscule 0.96 earned run average.

The 29-year-old left-hander, the ALs pitcher of the month in April, entered his April 30 start against Seattle with a 21-inning scoreless streak and held the Mariners off the board until the seventh inning of that one. He was chased following Wladimir Balentien's three-run homer in the seventh, but still picked up the win after surrendering six hits and fanning three without walking a batter.

He is the first pitcher since Pedro Martinez in 1997 to win his first five starts and produce an ERA under 1.00.

Lee has faced the Yankees six times in his career and is 2-3 with a 6.82 ERA against them.

New York will counter with an undefeated hurler of its own in right-hander Chien-Ming Wang, who try to become the American League's first seven-game winner this evening. Wang has been the one constant in the Yankees rotation this season, posting a 6-0 mark to go along with a 3.00 ERA.

Wang won his third straight start on Friday against Seattle after he allowed a run and three hits in six innings.

The 27-year-old hurler held the Indians scoreless over seven innings two starts ago and is 3-1 lifetime against them with a 2.73 ERA in four starts.

In the opener of this set on Tuesday, David Dellucci's three-run, pinch hit homer off Joba Chamberlain in the top of the eighth inning lifted Cleveland to a 5-3 win. Jhonny Peralta added a two-run homer for the Indians, who snapped a two-game skid.

Fausto Carmona started for Cleveland and surrendered three runs on six hits and five walks, while fanning two in five innings. Rafael Perez (1-1) hurled two innings of scoreless relief to earn the win.

Jason Giambi was 1-for-3 and drove in a pair of runs for the Yankees, who lost for the first time in four games. Hideki Matsui extended his hitting streak to 15 games with a first-inning single and finished 3-for-3 with a run scored.

Andy Pettitte allowed two runs on six hits in 6 1/3 innings for New York. The veteran lefty walked just one and struck out six but was let down by an unlikely culprit in Chamberlain (1-2). The second-year phenom gave up his first runs ever at Yankee Stadium and blew his first lead in the regular season.

Cleveland was without catcher Victor Martinez on Tuesday. The AL's leading hitter was scratched prior to the game with a stiff neck and is questionable for tonight's affair.

The Yankees split a four-game series with the Indians earlier in the year, but have won 10 of the last 13 overall meetings in this series. New York has also been a stingy host, having won eight of its last 11 at home in the matchup.