CLEVELAND - Cliff Lee won his fifth straight start, leading the Cleveland Indians to an 8-3 win over the Seattle Mariners on Wednesday night.

AP

Cleveland Indians starter Cliff Lee pitches against the Seattle Mariners during the first inning.

Lee's consecutive scoreless innings streak ended at 27 on Wladimir Balentien's three-run homer in the seventh. It raised his ERA from 0.28 to 0.96, still lowest in the majors.

Lee was pulled after the homer, the only runs and he allowed in six innings. The left-hander has given up four earned runs in 37 2-3 innings in his five starts.

Franklin Gutierrez drove in three runs on an RBI single in the fourth and a two-run single in the fifth.

Seattle starter Jarrod Washburn (1-4) allowed six runs in 4 1-3 innings for his third straight loss.

Grady Sizemore homered in the first, the 12th time in his career he has led off a game with a home run. Ryan Garko added a sacrifice fly for a 2-0 lead.

After Gutierrez made it 3-0, the Indians put it away with a five-run fifth. Victor Martinez and Casey Blake had RBI doubles, Gutierrez drove in two with a single and Jason Michaels added a sacrifice fly.

Lee struggled to a 5-8 record and 6.29 ERA last season. He was sent to Triple-A Buffalo in July and left off the Indians' postseason roster. Lee had to win the fifth starter's spot over Aaron Laffey and Jeremy Sowers in spring training.

Lee is 6-1 in nine career games against Seattle.