By the way ...

Cliff Lee is now 21-2 after beating the Royals 3-1 today. There's really nothing I can say about Lee that I haven't said already, and that many others have also said. With every start, he cements his 2008 as the best season by an Indians pitcher since ... well, maybe ever. He's the first Indian who's ever been 21-2, I'll tell you that. The Indians have played 108 seasons of baseball, and Cliff Lee is the first guy to go 21-2 in those 108 years -- and all this was after spending part of the previous year IN THE MINOR LEAGUES!

Lee has a major-league-leading 2.28 ERA, in a year when the overall ERA in the majors is 4.30. (In an unusual degree of symmetry, the American League's ERA is 4.29, the National League's 4.30.) He has an outside chance to finish with an ERA less than half the major-league average (MLA, and I believe I just coined that acronym; tell your friends). I don't know how often a qualifier for an ERA title has done that, but the last time it happened was 2005, when known steroid user Roger Clemens posted a 1.87 for the Astros, compared to an MLA of 4.28.

I'd also like to note that Victor Martinez knocked in all three Cleveland runs in today's game, which is certainly nice to see. He's hitting .333 in 21 at-bats since coming off the DL, with six RBIs and his only home run of the year.