Lee, cold weather too much for A's

By JOE STIGLICH
CONTRA COSTA TIMES

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CLEVELAND -- Cleveland Indians left-hander Cliff Lee would have been tough enough to hit Sunday in ideal weather conditions.

Throw in an icy wind and steady snowfall, and you get an idea of what the A's were up against in a 7-1 defeat at Progressive Field that halted their five-game winning streak.

The start of the game was pushed back 48 minutes as both teams waited to see if a rainstorm that was in the forecast would ever hit.

It didn't, but by the time the first inning got underway at 1:53 p.m. local time, the temperature was 38 degrees, with the wind chill factor bringing it down to 28 degrees.

By the end of the second inning, snow was falling down -- or rather sideways, thanks to the strong wind that played havoc with fly balls.

"It was miserable," said A's second baseman Mark Ellis, who grew up in South Dakota. "It was as cold as I've been playing baseball."

Lee brought his best stuff, as he usually does against the A's. He allowed just two hits, struck out eight and walked none over eight innings, facing just one batter over the minimum in that time.

It was Lee's second consecutive victory over the A's. He held them to four hits over 6º innings on April 6 in Oakland, and he's 4-1 lifetime against Oakland with a 2.39 ERA.