Victor Martinez hugged teammates and danced in the dugout as if he had just won the World Series.

It was a special moment for Cleveland's switch-hitter, who hit his first home run in nearly a year to help the Indians beat the Chicago White Sox 9-3 last night.

"It felt great to see one finally go out," Martinez said. "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't thinking about (the drought)."

"He slammed his bat down and stared me down[ after popping out]," Lee said. "I stared back. He was chirping in the dugout. It gave me a little extra energy. Actually, I appreciate him doing that."

"I rounded first, and he said something else and I looked at him like, 'What?'" Pierzynski said. "I didn't say anything. I was mad because I missed a 3-2 pitch and popped up. It wasn't meant anything toward him. You miss a pitch, you pop up against a guy that good, you can't miss pitches to hit. Oh well."

You never know what's gonna happen when you're a pitcher. You could go on a two-month slump out of nowhere. Steve Blass disease could rear its ugly head. You could suddenly become close personal friends with Dr. James Andrews. There are no sure things, really, but if you're Cliff Lee or Brandon Webb, you can probably start making space on your shelf for a Cy Young Award.

Webb gave up one run on six hits against the Braves yesterday, boosting his record to 17-4 and lowering his ERA to 2.88. He's head and shoulders above everyone in the NL in wins and at the moment trails only Tim Lincecum, Jake Peavy, and Johan Santana in the ERA race. But not by much, and more important to the win-crazy BBWAA writers, none of those guys are going to match his win totals when it's all said and done. What's more, two of those three are certain to be watching the playoffs from home this October, and Santana's Mets stand a worse chance of playing in the postseason right now than Webb's Diamondbacks. Out of all of the challengers I think Linceucm poses the biggest threat in that two stellar months for him might have older voters reminiscing about Steve Carlton wining 27 games for a pathetic Phillies team in 1972, but this is really Webb's award to lose at this point.

Cliff Lee was even more impressive yesterday, shutting out the Blue Jays over eight innings. Lee is leading the AL in wins and ERA, and none of the three guys trailing him in the latter category -- Justin Duchscherer, Roy Halladay, or Felix Hernandez -- are playing for winning teams, ensuring that only Lee truly has a shot at both titles. Yet somehow Lee seems less of a lock for a Cy Young than Webb does, for the simple reason that Francisco Rodriguez is likely to break the saves record for the best team in baseball. AL voters haven't given a Cy Young to a closer since Dennis Eckersley got it in 1992 -- and the early season K-Rod buzz is certainly dying down -- but the save, she is a seductive stat, and to the extent Lee falters down the stretch, the writers have a fallback option in Rodriguez.

But it's not a smart option, because Lee, as Webb, have been dominant this year. And though it's only August 11th, we haven't had a a clearer choice for Cy Young this early in recent memory.

To the great fans of Cleveland, my fellow teammates and coaches, the Cleveland Indians executive front office, the Dolan family, the City of Cleveland ... Thank you for ten great years

You've touched our lives with your kindness, love, and generosity. We are forever greatful! It's been a privilege and an honor!

CC and Amber Sabathia and Family