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Six-run eighth lifts Indians over White Sox

Sep 1, 2007 - 3:58 AM By Todd Krepop PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

CLEVELAND (Ticker) - Casey Blake and the Cleveland Indians cannot seem to lose these days.

Casey Blake capped a six-run eighth with a two-out, three-run double, leading the Indians to an improbable 8-5 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Friday night.

Cleveland (77-57) extended its winning streak to seven games and moved five games ahead of the second-place Detroit Tigers (72-62) in the American League Central Division.

"What a team effort," Blake said. "That was awesome. We just kept scratching away."

Trailing, 5-2, in the eighth, Cleveland went to work against Chicago's struggling bullpen. Ehren Wasserman started the eighth and retired the leadoff hitter before giving up a single to Grady Sizemore. Wasserman then set down Franklin Gutierrez before being lifted for Mike Myers.

The veteran lefthander walked Travis Hafner before Victor Martinez blooped an RBI single down the left field line to bring the Indians within two runs.

White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen brought in Mike MacDougal, but he could not stop the rally. Ryan Garko hit a grounder to shortstop that appeared to be the third out, but the ball took a wicked hop and bounced over shortstop Juan Uribe's head, allowing Hafner to score.

"When he hit it, I thought it was inning over," MacDougal said. "The next thing I know, the ball is in the outfield."

"Sometimes you get lucky in this game," Garko said. "I thought it was a routine ground ball to short. I thought I was out."

MacDougal then lost the strike zone as he threw eight straight balls, including a bases-loaded walk to pinch hitter Kenny Lofton that forced in the tying run.

"After the (bad hop), I couldn't throw the ball where I wanted to," MacDougal said.

Blake fell behind 1-2 before working the count full. He then drove the payoff pitch into the right field corner, clearing the bases and putting the Indians ahead, 8-5.

"I hit it right over the bag," Blake said. "I was just hoping (the umpire) made the right call."

"The guys put together a great inning and took advantage of the opportunities," Indians manager Eric Wedge said. "A lot of things had to happen to put an inning like that together."

Aaron Fultz (4-2) pitched the seventh and eighth innings, allowing just one run while striking out two to pick up the victory. Rafael Betancourt tossed a perfect ninth for his first save of the season.

"Fultzy was huge for us," Wedge said. "He threw up a couple zeros in the seventh and eighth, which was big for us. It gave us an opportunity to come back."

Mark Buehrle entered Friday with a three-game losing streak, struggling in the month of August with a 5.64 ERA. The lefthander allowed two runs and four hits in seven innings, striking out four without a walk.

"I was making pitches but also getting lucky," Buehrle said. "I missed with some of my pitches, but they didn't hit them. It wasn't one of my best outings, but I felt good."

Buehrle retired the first 11 batters he faced and 15 of the first 16. Hafner's single was the only offense the Indians could muster until getting to Buehrle in the sixth.

Trailing 5-0, Blake and Josh Barfield began the inning with singles. After a forceout, Gutierrez drove in the first run with a base hit.

Buehrle then hit Hafner in the ribs to load the bases for Martinez, but he limited the damage by getting the Indians catcher to hit a run-scoring groundout and striking out Garko.

Chicago wasted a bases-loaded, none-out opportunity in the first against Indians starter Fausto Carmona but gave Buehrle some run support with a two-run fifth and a three-run sixth.

Danny Richar led off the fifth with a single and Jerry Owens followed with a perfectly placed double over the head of third baseman Blake, who was playing for the sacrifice. Josh Fields drove in a run with a groundout and Jermaine Dye laced an RBI single to left to give the White Sox a 2-0 lead.

Chicago took advantage of Carmona's wildness in the sixth to widen their lead. Carmona walked two batters in the inning and Uribe delivered an RBI double.

Fields added a sacrifice fly and Jim Thome drove in Chicago's final run with two-out single to center.

Carmona struggled with his control all night, walking a career-high six batters. The righthander allowed five runs in six innings while striking out four.

"He just wasn't able to lock it in today," Wedge said. "He still battled and gave us a chance to win the game. It never really got away from him."

It was only the third time this season Carmona has allowed five or more runs in a game, with two of those instances coming against the White Sox.

Chicago has lost 10 games in a row on the road, its longest skid away from home since the end of the 1976 season and beginning of the 1977 campaign.

"It gets to the point where you want to laugh," Guillen said. "It's not easy, that's why I was mad a couple of days ago. Sometimes you erupt and sometimes you just take the beating."