a 5–0 record and 32 strikeouts in April, Lee was named the AL Pitcher of the Month. By mid-May, his ERA was only 0.67, and Lee faced the first challenge of his season with a 6–4 loss to Edinson Volquez and the Cincinnati Reds. Lee took the setback poorly, telling reporters, "Everything that happened in the past doesn't really matter ... I made a couple of bad pitches and we lost." With a 12–2 record and 2.31 ERA by July, Lee was not only named to his first MLB All-Star Game in 2008, but was given the nod to start the game as the AL pitcher. He pitched the first two innings, striking out three and giving up only one hit, a single to Chipper Jones. Lee continued to dominate over the second half of the season. His 19th win of the season, a 10–4 victory over the Tigers on August 26, broke his previous season high, and on September 1, he became the first Indian to win 20 games in one season since Gaylord Perry in 1974. With a 22–2 record on September 13, Lee became the first pitcher whose win–loss differential for a season was +20 since Bob Welch went 27–6 for Oakland in 1990. At that point, he had not lost a game since July 11. Despite Lee leading the AL in ERA and all of MLB in wins, the Indians finished in third place in the AL Central and did not reach the playoffs. Had he not lost his last start of the year, he would have become the first (and to date, only), pitcher ever with at least a .900 winning percentage, and at least 20 wins in a season. Ie…the first 20-game winner, to also lose fewer than three games. With a 22–3 record and 2.54 ERA in 31 starts, including four complete games and two shutouts, as well as 170 strikeouts in innings, Lee capped off the 2008 season with a number of awards. First, the Indians gave him both the BBWAA Man of the Year Award and the Gordon Cobbledick Golden Tomahawk Award. After the Sporting News named Lee their AL Pitcher of the Year and Comeback Player of the Year, he also picked up Players Choice Awards for both Outstanding Pitcher and Comeback Player. MLB also awarded Lee with their Comeback Player of the Year award for going from a 6.29