Indians win six in a row, beating Texas 8-7.

The Indians were down 7-1 and came back.  Best story of the night?  Maybe.  The Indians posted their longest win streak of the year.  Possibility.  Jensen Lewis struck out the side in the ninth with the game on the line at 8-7?  Hey take your pick baby, its all good!

After Jeremy Sowers left in the third and the Indians were down, most would say game over.  This new group of late-season Indians said no problem.

The Indians weren’t behind all night.  They started the first just like they’ve been doing, taking a 1-0 lead.  Grady Sizemore manufactured the first run.  He walked, and stole second. 

Then, David Dellucci walked, negating the steal, but putting runners on first and second.  Sizemore, not content with the steal, swiped third as well on a double steal move with Dellucci taking second. 

The move paid off when Jhonny Peralta sac-flied Sizemore home, opening up the 1-0 lead.  That double steal would prove the right move, as Shin-Soo Choo struck out to end the inning.  Without the base advance, the Indians would have come away with a big-ole zippo. 

One of the great things in the last x number of games has been the Indians going for broke with a national league mentality, stealing, bunting...doing the little things that ended up being runs that mattered.

Basically, you could say the Indians stole a run, and they’d need it.

The Rangers tied the game in the third, scoring one run on three hits. Afterward, Rangers starter Brandon McCarthy bailed himself out of second and third inning jams with inning-ending double play grounders. 

Chris Davis doubled to right with one out.  In a questionable call, Joaquin Arias singled by hitting a grounder to short.  The question wasn’t whether Arias was safe, but whether the hit was not an error. 

Cleveland shortstop Peralta fielded the ball and threw to first, pulling Ryan Garko off the bag.  Cleveland announcers claimed foul, saying the error should have been a throwing miscue on Peralta or a fielding error on Garko, but not a hit. 

They also claimed this was the second time in two nights that Rangers hitters were given a huge benefit of the doubt, questioning their ranking of second in the AL in hitting stat. 

Objectively, I’d have to agree with the Indians announcers.  Both hits should have been registered as errors.  I have no idea whether the ranking should be questioned.

Bottom line, the game was tied at 1-1.

The second time through the lineup, Sowers got shelled big-time.  He ended up giving up six runs on five hits in the bottom of the fourth, a geometric progression that can not be ignored by straight-out-the-door math majors, ending his evening pretty darn early.

The shelling went as such.  Milton Bradley earned a walk right out of the gate.  Hank Blalock singled, moving Bradley to second.  Marlon Byrd doubled, scoring a pair and clearing the bases.  Davis struck out for the first out of the inning. 

Joaquin Arias singled, and scored Byrd.  Brandon Boggs flied out for the second out of the inning, leaving Arias on first.  Arias stole second, and went to third on a wild pitch from Sowers.  None of that ended up mattering since Michael Young homered to center, chasing Sowers.

Edwardo Mujica came on and got Josh Hamilton to fly out, ending the inning.

Mujica has been either cover-your-eyes awful or lights-out all year, and hopefully the fly-out meant Tribe fans were looking at Mr. Lights Out. 

They were.  Mujica carried the Indians into the seventh, going two and a third, giving up two hits and no runs and registering himself as lights-out Mujica.

In the meantime, the Indians pulled off a six-spot inning of their own, tying the game.

They didn’t take McCarthy, as he was replaced by Josh Rupe.  Rupe got hammered for five runs in two-thirds of an inning. 

He started off the fifth walking Asdrubal Cabrera.  Sizemore singled, but Dellucci grounded into a double play, moving Cabrera to third with two outs.

That’s when the wheels came off for Texas.  Ben Francisco walked, and Peralta was hit by a pitch in a disputed play that looked like it hit his bat.  That loaded the bases of Shin-Soo Choo, who walked, scoring Peralta. 

Garko singled, scoring a pair and leaving runners on first and second.  Warner Madrigal came on in relief of Rupe, but surrendered a home-run to Kelly Shoppach, tying the game at seven.

The relief pitching held both teams in check until the bottom of the eighth, when the Indians took the lead for good.  Shoppach scored an infield single with one out.  Jamey Carroll entered for Andy Marte and, on a passed ball, Shoppach moved to second. 

Manager Eric Wedge gambled and pulled Shoppach for pinch runner Franklin Gutierrez.  It didn’t take long for this move to pay off, as Carroll singled, and Gutierrez motored home, giving the Indians an 8-7 lead.

Rafael Betancourt would hold the lead.  Enter Jensen Lewis.  He struck out the side, picking up his sixth save, and giving the Indians an 8-7 win. 

The Indians win six in a row for the first time his season, and they have a chance for the sweep on Sunday.  The Indians don’t pick up a game on the Detroit Tigers.  They beat Kansas City 4-0. 

Sunday’s game is another 8:05 central start.  Indians Anthony Reyes(4.96 ERA)goes up against Vincente Padilla(12-7, 4.96 ERA). 

The Indians are gunning for their seventh win in a row and second series sweep.in a row. 

Rafael Perez gets the win, Jamey Wright picks up the loss.  The Indians score eight runs on eight hits.  Sizemore, Garko, and Shoppach each register a pair of hits apiece for the Indians. 

The Rangers register seven runs on ten hits.  Young, Laird, and Arias score a pair a piece in the loss. 

Texas drops to 63-67 on the season.  The Indians improve to 61-67.  The Indians are still 2.5 back of the Tigers for third in the AL Central. 

The Rangers are in second in the AL West but 16 games behind the Angels.