I’ve got a good amount of material (videos, pictures, observations, stories) to share from the Indianapolis/Durham game tonight, but I can’t really get into that before I address Andrew McCutchen’s three-homer night.
I got home just in time to see the highlights of ‘Cutch’s homers and a phone interview with him on MLB Tonight. During the interview he gives the usual, “I’m just swinging like I swing and I got lucky tonight,” line that most guys that have nights like this give while the chuckleheads on the MLB Network (there is nothing on television that makes me want to punch my TV more than Mitch Williams) needle him about it. I’ll keep saying what I’ve been saying since I saw ‘Cutch in Durham last year; his swing will eventually hit him 15-20 homers a year in the big leagues. It’s a great, quick swing and he pounces on mistakes because he’s a very good hitter. Yes he’s small and yes he’s fast, but there’s some real pop in that bat. And how many guys in baseball history have hit three homers and a bunt single in the same game?
It wasn’t just a good night for McCutchen (though his three homers, four runs scored, and six RBI did account for seven of the team’s 11 runs in one way or another). Lastings Milledge doubled in two runs, Andy LaRoche tripled in one run, added another single, and scored twice. Brandon Moss singled twice, scored twice, and knocked in a run. Garett Jones had two hits. Even Ronny Cedeno had two hits!
All of this should be tempered by the fact that we’re playing the Nationals, but at this exact moment in time I’m pretty excited that we’re scoring runs off of anybody. Besides McCutchen, everyone in the lineup is auditioning for a spot on the team next year. Every game in these last two months won’t go like these two against the Nats, but they should be interesting to watch.
