This Must Be Just Like Livin' In Paradise!

As that idiot from that car commercial says "Are you KIDDING me?!" Not only did the team have two amazing nights at the plate but also Ubaldo pitched a 7-inning, 3-hit shutout? WHAT?!

There were no errors! Nine runs! Three home runs! Four doubles! A double play! Someone went 4-for-4! Did I mention Ubaldo only gave up 3 hits?!

Ubaldo Jiminez was just cruising. He was throwing low- to mid- 90s. Yep - most guys saw a 95 MPH fastball or two for each at-bat and NONE of them got hit by the ball! Not a one! Jiminez did eventually lose his stuff in the 7th inning but it wasn't in the form of hitting batters or giving up home runs. He just ran out of steam, like any dude might, and they took him out. Nice and tidy and no tears. Amazing.

Nick Hagadone came in to finish the 8th after Ubaldo's rocky start. He was awesome and got two strikeouts and a groundout, not letting anyone score. Cody Allen finished the game for us, pounding everyone at 96 MPH, getting a strikeout, popout and groundout. Ballgame!

I'd like to declare Michael Brantley finally settled in at leadoff. A couple weeks ago I was bemoaning his performance at leadoff this year and last, saying that he only hit .227 at leadoff last year and at the time of my post was still hitting around .000. Well now he's up to a respectable .285 (if I did my math right) and has 14 hits. Much, much better. Today he also got 2 doubles and scored 2 runs!

Jason Kipnis got his first homer of the season today! He went 1 for 4 with a walk and came around to score twice.

Is this it for Asdrubal? And by "it" I mean is he back? Did hanging out with Meyer cure him of all that ails him, and he's ready to face the rest of the season like the All-Star he is? I ask because not only does he have an 8-game hitting streak, but he's got 7 hits in his last 3 games. AND he didn't even play the whole game today! (Aviles came in once we were solidly winning) Today he went 2 for 3 with 2 RBI and a double. If this is really how it is I can't WAIT til I go to the game Saturday so I can cheer my butt off! OMG ASDRUBAL!!!

Nick Swisher only went 1 for 5 today, but I heard something out of the corner of my ear that he was, of course, instrumental in getting the team pumped up after Sunday's early-game loss. Something about "crankin' the tunes" in the clubhouse. Now, if you would have asked me to imagine what might have happened between games to get the guys in such spirits to kill it in the second game, I would have made up a scenario involving Nick Swisher and "crankin' the tunes" but I am 90% sure I did not make this up!

Mark Reynolds is back on the hitting horse after a short struggle. He was enjoying a string of multi-hit games and homered in back-to-back games, but has been pretty dry since Houston. However last night he got 2 hits and tonight he got 2 hits - no extra bases or anything, but he did get an RBI tonight. Really great if relaxing and not focusing on hitting for power was the key for him, and he quickly recovered. Some guys take forever to figure it out!

Carlos Santana! He has 14 hits over his last 10 games! Tonight he went 1 for 3 with a double and a walk. His OBP is .456, which leads the league. His average, .386, is starting to blow away the league. His slugging is second in the league. HE IS THE REAL DEAL! Yan Gomes came in to relieve him later in the game, which is great because you want your catcher to rest and they want Gomes to play every day so that really worked out.

Ryan Raburn had a spring-training-like game today, doing the sort of stuff I expected to see him do all season. He went 4 for 4 with 4 RBI and 2 homers. You know, stuff like that! He's only played 14 games with us this yeah and only has one other RBI, but you gotta start somewhere. I wonder if he's going to be another Shelley Duncan for us - great if he can play two games in a row but a bit rusty off the bench each time.

Neither the Chiz Kid or Stubbs got hits today. But hey, someone has to bat 8 and 9. Chiz got a couple of great hits off - they just went right to a Royal!

So what does everyone else think about this? Two games in a row, the team hitting like we have been expecting them to hit since February. And not against shoddy pitching today, either. I'm not going to speculate on Ubaldo right now because I'm not allowing myself to go there, but at least he was awesome today.

This is the fifth night game in a row that the Indians have won since Meryl Masterson showed up (it's been established that her luck doesn't extend to day games). Here's what she has to say about tomorrow night's game:

Frig the Phillies!

Tomorrow the team returns home and our new hero Zach McAllister faces off against some RHP with an ERA of 5.08. I hope everyone comes out to the ballpark and is good and loud. It's going to be like 80 degrees! Yeehaw!

See you there!

Radio Chatter:
"If they had three guys down in Columbus knocking on the door, they'd have less patience for Jiminez."
- Tom Hamilton

"We've been in Kansas City since Wednesday and I think we've literally experienced all four seasons since then."
- Tom Hamilton

"You don't need 22 pitches if you can command 3 of them."
- Tom Hamilton

"The next time you see Billy Butler smile at a ballgame, you'd better take a quick picture of that."
- Tom Hamilton