Seattle Mariners starting pitcher Cliff Lee throws against the Chicago Cubs on his way to a complete-game victory. (Elaine Thompson / Associated Press)
Seattle Mariners starting pitcher Cliff Lee throws against the Chicago Cubs on his way to a complete-game victory. (Elaine Thompson / Associated Press)
SEATTLE — Cliff Lee struck out nine in his second consecutive complete game and the Seattle Mariners beat the Chicago Cubs 8-1 on Wednesday night for their sixth consecutive win.
Rookie Michael Saunders homered and drove in four runs for Seattle. Ichiro Suzuki had a two-run single.
Lee (6-3) allowed nine hits and walked none in his American League-best fourth complete game this season and No. 17 for his career. He lowered his ERA to an AL-best 2.39.
The 2008 A.L. Cy Young Award winner has 76 strikeouts against just four walks this season. That’s an unheard of ratio of 19-to-1. Only one starter since 1901 has had a double-digit figure in that ratio over an entire season: Bret Saberhagen, who struck out 143 and walked 13 for Kansas City in 1994.
