Indians told reporters that Lee had not suffered any lingering physical difficulties from his early-season injury, he struggled on the mound, going 5–8 with a 6.38 ERA in 16 starts. This included three consecutive starts where he allowed seven or more runs. On July 21, Lee came under fire for hitting Sammy Sosa of the Texas Rangers in the head during a game meant to honor Sosa's 600th home run. Catcher Victor Martinez verbally confronted Lee between innings, and the Indians held a 25-minute players-only meeting after the 8–5 loss. After allowing eight runs in a 14–9 loss to the Boston Red Sox in his next start on July 26, Lee was optioned to the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons. Lee used the demotion to retool his pitching repertoire, moving his fastball and changeup to the outside corner while developing a cutter inspired by that of Mariano Rivera. He was a September call-up for Cleveland, but was relegated to the bullpen for the final month of the season, and was not included on the Indians' postseason roster. He expressed motivation to focus on improvement after seeing Cleveland drop four games to the Boston Red Sox in the 2007 American League Championship Series (ALCS), telling reporters, "I would have liked to have had a shot at one of those last three games, but we lost them all and I didn't pitch in any of them." Lee went 5–8 in 20 appearances for the Indians, 16 of them starts, posting a 6.29 ERA and striking out 66 batters in innings. He also pitched in 10 minor-league games, going 2–3 with a 3.00 ERA and 61 strikeouts in 48 innings. Cy Young Award and aftermath: 2008–2009 To prepare for the 2008 season, Lee spent time training with the Indians' pitching coach, Carl Willis, at the latter's offseason home in Raleigh, North Carolina. After honing his mechanics there and impressing during spring training, Lee beat out Jeremy Sowers and Aaron Laffey for the fifth spot in the Cleveland starting rotation. His first start of the season was a marked departure from the year prior: going toe-to-toe with Oakland Athletics ace Joe Blanton, Lee allowed only four hits and one unearned run in innings of the 2–1 victory. He pitched his first MLB complete-game shutout with a 2–0 victory over the Kansas City Royals on April 25, throwing 120 pitches and dropping to a 0.28 ERA. With