[RebelYell]

ChiSox swept!!!
Indians put everything together to finish off White Sox
Something very strange is happening at Jacobs Field.

Despite a view of too many empty seats, the Cleveland Indians are taking on the form that made them the talk of the town in the mid-90s. Cliff Lee, Kevin Millwood and C.C. Sabathia all gave Tribe manager Bobby Don Southworth seven-inning starts and even the struggling offense came around to record a three-game sweep of the Chicago White Sox.

"Great way to start at home," Southworth said. "Six straight. You can't beat it."

The Indians carry a six-game winning streak on the road to Tampa Bay for a weekend series and then make their way to the west coast to take on the Oakland Athletics.

"I don't know where they came up with this schedule," Southworth smiled, "but I don't mind where we go right now. I don't think this team cares who we play either."

It's still early, but the Indians have sped off to a 7-2 start, good enough for second place, one game behind the Minnesota Twins.

Lee recuperated nicely from his shortened first-game outing in Texas, going seven innings to get the victory in the opener with the White Sox, 7-4. Ben Broussard went 3-for-4 with 3 RBIs and Scott Elarton picked up his second save.

"That was nice to see," Southworth said. "Cliff and I go way back. We're a couple of Arkansas boys and I've seen him go through a lot in his young career. I have to admit there's a little bit more excitement to see somebody like him, who you've known a long time, go out and pitch his guts out for you."

In the second game, Millwood duplicated Lee's effort and Chad Zerbe recorded the save. Josh Bard, in his first start at catcher, belted out three hits, knocked in two runs and scored twice.
"Victor (Martinez) has been struggling at the plate and he's going to get a rest every so often, anyway," Southworth said. "I was just glad to see Bard answer the bell the way he did."

Sabathia, starting for the third time in nine outings, finally ran out of fuel in the eighth inning of a scoreless tie in Wednesday's contest. Matt Miller, a 6-foot-3, 215-pound smoke-thrower, got Sabathia off the hook in the top of the eighth and the Indians came up with two runs in their half of the inning to claim a 2-0 verdict.

Bob Wickman got the save with a 1-2-3 ninth.

"Everything went well," Southworth said. "We had three close, competitive ballgames with the White Sox and won all three of them. I was a little wary about how we would do in close games in the late innings, but our bullpen was stout and we got a lot more hitting than we've been getting.
And I can't say enough about C.C. ... He's given us a lot of innings already and then, despite short rest, he holds a pretty good-hitting ballclub to five hits and doesn't walk anybody through seven-plus (innings)."

Sabathia's reward will be to stay at home for a few days and then rejoin the club in Oakland where he will pitch the first or second game against the A's.

"We've got a day off, three games in Florida and then C.C. will be scheduled to go again," Southworth said. "He should be well rested."