With a little luck, Tribe runs streak to seven

It took an extreme bit of good fortune in the middle of a six-run, eighth-inning rally to vault the Tribe to their seventh straight win tonight. Sometimes it pays to be lucky AND good.

After the Tribe managed only two runs off of White Sox starter Mark Buehrle in seven innings, the White Sox bulpen took over with a 5-2 lead. That in itself was the Tribe's first bit of good fortune.

When the smoke cleared four relievers later the Tribe was up 8-5.

With two down and the score a bit closer at 5-3 Ryan Garko came to the plate with runners on first and third. He hit what looked like a routine grounder to short, but - with a big stroke of luck - it hit just the right spot on the cut of the grass and took a forty-five degree turn away from, and a six foot hop over the head of, Sox SS Juan Uribe. That mde it 5-4 and with some really lousy pitching by Mike MacDougal (7 strikes in 25 pitches) and a clutch three-run double by Casey Blake - yes that Casey Blake - the Tribe put six on the board to take an 8-5 lead.

During the rally Kenny Lofton got a game-tying RBI, and just like last night's game winner he did it with has bat on his shoulder, taking a bases-loaded walk from MacDougal.

Some other thoughts:

It may just be coincidence, but the Tribe rallied again just as Asdrubal Cabrera came into the game. Maybe those beads he wears around his neck are as lucky as he thinks they are.

Right fielder Franklin Gutierrez seemed to have been preoccupied on a routine grounder through the 2B hole that turned into a double thanks to the rookie's late break on the ball. The misplay, in the sixth inning, allowed Darin Erstad to score from first and resulted in a gift double and RBI for Juan Uribe.

Did anyone else feel like Wede went too long with Fausto tonight? He clearly lacked control, was not getting the ground ball outs and seemed spent by the sixth. He probably should have been removed right after Uribe's double (described above), but certainly after he allowed the fourth run of the game later that inning. It speaks volumes about the confidence Wedge does not have in his middle-inning guys.

On that topic, Aaron Fultz threw two scoreless innings tonight, facing just seven batters and picking up the win. Fultz has had four consecutive scoreless outings. Maybe it's time he and Jensen Lewis, who has also showed some recent success, get a chance to prove their worth, now that the Tribe has at least a little breathing room with the Tigers. They've got to come up with a couple of more usable guys and this would be a good time to find out if Fultz and Lewis can help.