It has certainly been an up-and-down year for Langley High School grad David Lee, a relief pitcher with the Class AAA Buffalo Bisons.

Lee, 31, in his ninth season of professional baseball, was with the Cleveland Indians early in the season but was sent down to Buffalo after just four appearances covering 4¹/₃ innings. He was 0-0 with a 10.38 ERA during his short stay.

At Buffalo, Lee has become an important ingredient on a very good Bison team -- a squad that owns the best record at 79-57 (.581 winning percentage) of the 30 teams in Class AAA baseball.

Lee, a 6-foot-1, 200-pound right-hander, leads Buffalo in pitching appearances (48) and saves (9). But after throwing well during his first two months there, he has tailed off a bit. His ERA has risen the past month from 3.50 to 4.97. He owns a 2-4 record with 52 strikeouts and 34 walks in 63 1/3 innings.

Buffalo clinched the International League's Northern Division championship Friday night and a spot in the league's playoffs. But it was hardly a joyous occasion for Lee, who gave up an 11th-inning walk-off homer in a 3-2 loss at Syracuse. Buffalo clinched when the second-place team in the division -- the Pawtucket Red Sox -- lost its game.

Buffalo manager Marty Brown maintains Lee "has had a good year."

"He's brought a lot of leadership to the clubhouse," said Brown. "He's a guy we've relied on in a lot of tight games."

Lee has pitched 96 games in the major leagues, including 36 with Colorado in 1999 and 41 with San Diego in 2001. He has an overall big-league record of 5-2 with a 4.37 ERA.

Lee was hoping to rejoin Cleveland in September when call-ups are made, but with his recent slump that is now a long shot. Brown said the problems Lee has had in recent weeks has to do "more with command and getting behind in the count" than it does with velocity or talent. The Bison reliever's best pitch is a fastball that averages between 90-94 mph.

"The first half of the year here in Buffalo I was pretty much throwing lights out," said Lee, who has two young children and a home in Jefferson Hills.

"A couple of weeks ago I had three games in a row where I was pounded. When you're only pitching an inning or two each time out, when you give up a lot of runs your ERA can go up real fast."

Extra base hits

Shaler grad Dan Schwartzbauer, an infielder with the Pirates' Gulf Coast League rookie team in Bradenton, Fla., has hit .513 (20 for 39) over the past two weeks to raise his batting average from .298 to .366 (45 for 123). Schwartzbauer, 22, who played collegiately at Duquesne University, would lead the 12-team league in batting average but he does not have enough at-bats to qualify for league-leader honors.

Greensburg Salem graduate Adam Bostick owns a 2-8 record for the Florida Marlins' Class A team at Greensboro, N.C., but he has 140 strikeouts in just 102 innings and ranks second in the 16-team South Atlantic League in strikeouts. Greensboro owns one of the worst records in minor-league baseball at 45-86.