Major League Baseball

Cliff Lee earns complete-game win over Mariners

Published Jul. 17, 2009 5:08 a.m. ET

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Cliff Lee finally got just a little run support. It was enough for the reigning AL Cy Young Award winner.

Lee won for the first time in more than a month, allowing one run in his second complete game of the season to give the Cleveland Indians a 4-1 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Thursday night.

"He showed why he was the Cy Young winner last year," Seattle manager Don Wakamatsu said. "He never kept anything in the middle of the plate. We had a hit every inning, which is hard to do, but we couldn't capitalize on it and put anything together."

Lee (5-9) hadn't won since a three-hit shutout against St. Louis on June 14, when he took a no-hitter into the eighth inning. He had lost three straight starts, thanks mostly to a lack of run support. The Indians have scored three runs or less in 11 of Lee's 20 starts.

"We got some runs early," Lee said. "We got a nice lead and I got ahead in the count. That's how you win games."

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