Rockies' Jimenez takes step back
Throwing too hard backfires on pitcher in 7-1 loss to Braves
By Tracy Ringolsby, Rocky Mountain News
Monday, June 16, 2008
David Zalubowski © Associated Press
Rockies players, from left, shortstop Omar Quintanilla, starting pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez, catcher Chris Iannetta and pitching coach Bob Apodaca talk after Jimenez walked Atlanta's Kelly Johnson to load the bases for Chipper Jones in the fifth inning of the Rockies 7-1 loss to the Braves Monday at Coors Field.
Moment: With the game still scoreless, one on and one out in the fifth, Ubaldo Jimenez got ahead of Kelly Johnson 0-2. Johnson then worked Jimenez for a 10-pitch walk, fouling off four two-strike pitches and setting up a three-run rally that included a two-run single by Chipper Jones.
Player: Atlanta right-handed pitcher Jair Jurrjens won for the sixth time in his past seven decisions, working 72/3 innings.
Stat: 2 hits for the Rockies in 14 at-bats with a runner in scoring position in the first eight innings. Colorado is hitting .231 in those situations this season.
* Series history: The Indians lead the all-time series 7-5, but the Rockies have a 4-2 edge at Coors Field, sweeping three games the last time the teams played in Denver in 2003. The teams played in Cleveland in 2004, with Colorado losing two of three, and in 2005, with the Rockies being swept in three games.
* Roster report: Right-handed pitchers Jake Westbrook (right elbow inflammation) and Fausto Carmona (left hip strain), designated hitter Travis Hafner (right shoulder strain), second baseman Josh Barfield (sprained finger) and catcher Victor Martinez (right elbow inflammation) are on the disabled list.
* Quickly: Jamey Carroll, one of most popular players in Rockies history, has assumed starting duties with Barfield hurt, and went 12-for-20 in first five games after becoming a lineup regular. He has increased his average to .287. . . . The Indians have lost 12 of 17 on the road. . . . Cleveland is 2-4 in interleague play, getting swept in three-game visit to Cincinnati and taking two of three from San Diego at home last weekend.
Rockies right-hander Ubaldo Jimenez felt so good Monday night it became a problem.
Chalk up another lesson learned - the hard way.
What excitement Jimenez found with the extra life on his fastball quickly turned into the disappointment of another loss, 7-1 to the Atlanta Braves, who stopped by Coors Field on Monday night between series in Southern California and Texas to make up an April snowout.
While the Rockies lost for the fourth time in 12 games, Jimenez saw his record fall to 1-7 and his winless stretch extend to 13 starts, dating to his one victory of the season, 4-3 against the Braves, on April 8 at Coors Field.
While Jimenez gave up only three of Atlanta's runs, he had to battle to get through five innings, throwing 110 pitches, and was markedly different than the pitcher the Rockies had seen evolving in recent starts, including two of his previous four in which he worked seven shutout innings.
"The longer you go without (a win), the more you want to get one," manager Clint Hurdle said. "It might have been that, trying a little harder, but hard is not always better.
"One of the things I learned from personal experience is that the enemy of good is great. You start doing good and you think if you turn it up a notch you will be great, and it turns into a struggle."
It certainly did for Jimenez, who was coming off a seven-inning, four- hit, one-walk shutout effort that resulted in a no-decision in a 1-0 Rockies victory in his previous start, Wednesday at Coors Field.
He had pitched well enough in his two previous starts that the Rockies won, even if he had no-decisions. He has allowed three runs or fewer in 12 of his starts this year.
Even that couldn't soften the results against the Braves, who turned Jimenez's battle to get through innings into a three-run fifth keyed by Chipper Jones' two-run single after a 10-pitch walk to Kelly Johnson.
Johnson fouled off four two-strike pitches before drawing the ball four to load the bases.
"He has electric stuff and if he harnesses it he will be awesome," said Jones, whose 2-for-4 stopover at Coors Field raised his average from .402 to .403 in his bid to chase the .400 mark that nobody has reached since Ted Williams in 1941.
The Braves added two runs in the seventh off Matt Herges and two more with two out in the ninth off Manny Corpas.
But it was the early-inning battle of Jimenez that was of interest.
"I tried something different than I had in my last few games," Jimenez said. "I was too excited about my velocity."
Now, he knows better.
"I learned not to try too hard," he said. "I learned to stay in a rhythm and just make my pitches, don't overthrow."
Jimenez did strike out seven, his second-best total of the season, in his five innings. He also had a handful of batters he couldn't finish, which led to long pitch counts and wore him down.
He had only one 1-2-3 inning out of the five he pitched, and it still took 14 pitches to put down the Braves in order in the fourth, even though he threw a first-pitch strike to all three batters.
Jimenez scuffled through a 21-pitch first inning that included back-to-back, one-out walks to Johnson, who started 0-2, and Jones. He escaped damage that inning when Mark Teixeira took a full-count strike and Johnson was thrown out trying to score from second on a Brian McCann single to center.
Jimenez needed 22 pitches to get through a four-batter third inning, then came the 37 pitch fifth-inning fiasco that was underscored by Johnson's 10-pitch at-bat ahead of the two-run single from Jones.
"It was a mixed bag," Hurdle said of Jimenez. "He definitely wasn't sharp. He is so close in many ways to doing good things, but he still has that glitch to get over."
Now, Hurdle said, comes a major test for Jimenez, scheduled to pitch again against the Mets at Coors Field on Saturday.
"How he is going to bounce back in his next start will tell us," Hurdle said.
ETC.
Short a position player because catcher Yorvit Torrealba was sitting out the second and final game of his suspension, Rockies manager Clint Hurdle called on Aaron Cook to pinch hit for Jimenez with nobody on and one out in the fifth, and the 10-game winner responded with his first pinch hit, a single. . . . The Rockies rotation has a 3.32 ERA in June, second lowest in the National League to Philadelphia's rotation at 3.02. . . . Colorado's streak of six consecutive games without an error ended when Brad Hawpe's misplay in the fifth allowed Johnson to advance from second to third on Jones' single, setting up the Braves final run of the three-run inning.
NUMBERS GAME
10 consecutive months of hitting better than .300 in each month for left fielder Matt Holliday. Holliday is hitting .296 this month (8-for-27) after going 2-for-5 on Monday.
NEXT STEP
Shortstop Troy Tulowitzki checked out Monday and will join Triple-A Colorado Springs tonight for the next step in his rehabilitation assignment.
Tulowitzki, recovering from a torn tendon in his left quadriceps, will play for the Sky Sox this week, then, if he checks out Friday afternoon, will be activated.
Tulowitzki played in five games for Single-A Modesto last week, going 4-for-12 with three doubles and five walks.
"There's no discomfort, no pain at all," he said. "Running the bases, cutting the corners, I felt it a little bit."
Second baseman Clint Barmes, recovering from a sprained right knee, also will join the Sky Sox tonight, but he has not played a game yet on his rehabilitation and isn't expected to be activated until the Rockies begin a trip in Kansas City on Monday.
FOR STARTERS
Left-hander Jorge De La Rosa, who struggled in his first five starts and was sent to the bullpen, made a good enough impression in a spot start Saturday (five shutout innings) that he will get the assignment Thursday against the Indians.
"Given another opportunity, he stepped up," manager Clint Hurdle said. "Now he will get a chance to build on it."
HE SAID IT
"Fielding is contagious, too. (Garrett Atkins) is in a good place right now."
Hurdle, on a series of diving plays Atkins has made at third base during the last week.
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June 17, 2008
7:25 a.m.
Suggest removal
SwolOne writes:
Yo Clint! The enemy of good is great? No wonder you had such a mediocre career as a player and continue it as a manager. You have it the wrong way around. The enemy of great is good!
As for Ubaldo, is there any surprise that young pitchers struggle on a daily basis with Apodaca as the pitching coach. How does Apodaca still have a job?
June 17, 2008
7:57 a.m.
Suggest removal
notyouravg writes:
Yo Clint! The enemy of good is settling for good. And please don't mistake it, we are far from good. With so much unproven talent on this team, YOU as Manager must soon own up to the short commings of this season long nightmare.
I for one think it it time to stop your hen-mother approach, kick some but in the clubhouse and hold some players accountable.
It just might help you at your next big league job!
June 17, 2008
10:02 a.m.
Suggest removal
GeeTee writes:
The Rockies have TOO MANY players on the team that should still be in AAA ball (or lower). Ian Stewart has shown that he will never be an everyday starter in the major leagues -- he can't hit the ball. Ubaldo is simply on a minor league level. Herrera and Quintanilla -- good field, no hit -- not major leaguers.
Vizcaino is a complete waste of a roster spot -- when will Rockies management learn that a bunch of Dominicans is NOT the answer to pitching problems? Corpas, Ramirez (07), Jimenez, Vizcaino, Julio (07) -- come on!!
Helton -- a clean-up hitter that walks almost as much as he hits -- sorry, I was under the impression that the clean-up hitter is supposed to DRIVE IN RUNS.
I'm a Rockies fan and will continue to support them, but I feel like I'm paying major league prices to see the Sky Sox.
June 17, 2008
6:07 p.m.
Suggest removal
Jim_in_Erie writes:
Maybe it's time for Jimenez to "step back" to AAA or AA ball.
He's been to long a 'work in progress', and the progress is killing the team.
Of course, it would be nice if it didn't look like so man of the bats are being used by kid's scared of letting a first pitch go past.