Lee Notches AL Pitcher of the Month Award for April
The Indians sent out the following press release today about Cliff Lee:
Cleveland Indians left-handed pitcher Cliff Lee has been named the American League Pitcher of the Month for April 2008. This marks the first monthly honor of Cliff’s career.
Lee won all five of his April starts, pitching a total of 37.2 innings and allowing just one home run, 19 hits and two walks. Lee posted an earned run average of 0.96 and fanned 32 batters last month. The 29-year-old southpaw tossed a complete game shutout on the road on April 24th, striking out nine batters and allowing three hits against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium. This is the second time that the Benton, Arkansas native has started a season with a 5-0 mark, having also done so in 2004. Lee had a breakout season in 2005, going 18-5 with a 3.79 ERA for the Indians. He finished fourth in the American League Cy Young Voting.
Other nominees include Zack Greinke (3-0, 1.25 ERA, 36.0 IP, 19 SO, 1 CG) of the Kansas City Royals, Joe Saunders (5-0, 2.08 ERA, 43.1 IP, 20 SO) of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and Chien-Ming Wang (5-0, 3.23 ERA, 39.0 IP, 27 SO, 1 CG) of the New York Yankees.
Cliff Lee will receive a specially designed trophy and a Sharp AQUOS® HD LCD-TV to commemorate his A.L. Pitcher of the Month performance.
Matt has covered Major League Baseball and the "other two" Pro teams in Cleveland since 1994. He has been on the beat of the Indians in full-time mode since 1996, working for various raido and print networks around the country.
