Staff ace Ubaldo Jimenez was the story of the day as the Rockies blanked the Braves
- Image by Getty Images via Daylife
The Rockies look better at the beginning of the year this year than in seasons past… which is trouble from everyone else in baseball if they get better as the season goes on like they have historically. I’ve got high hopes for this year’s team, the best team they’ve ever had on opening day.
One issue right off the bat that requires improvement is road play. Actually there are a lot of things I think the Rockies could improve upon, but I have an entire season to write about them so I take them as them they come.
The Rockies are 1-3 on the road so far. Playing .250 baseball on the road is not gonna get it done. Really, other than the 2nd inning by Jason Hammel yesterday, the pitching on the road has been more than enough. It’s the hitting that’s having trouble. The lineup is still cold, but most hitting warms up as the temperature does.  Patience is probably the remedy there. Ubaldo Jimenez gets to take a crack at the Braves’ solid lineup today.  Good luck Ubaldo.
Top 1st Tied 0-0
Call it a case of getting to a pitcher before he settles in. The Rockies score one off a lead-off Carlo Gonzalez double and a pair of Sacs by Dexter Fowler and Troy Tulowitski. Kenshin Kawakami didn’t look awful, he just wasn’t locating. Gonzalez made him pay, and then good patience at bat earned a run and another hit (Brad Hawpe).
The umpire’s strike zone is teeny-tiny. This is Jeff Kellogg’s crew and he’s behind the plate tonight. He’s a brand new crew chief, so I don’t know anything about him yet.
Bot 1st 1-0 Rockies
Ubaldo Jimenez looks to already have his stuff working.
Nate McLouth got a hold of one he hit high to center field. Dexter Fowler is fast. Not a problem. Other than that a walk of Martin Prado due to the tiny strike zone (Jimenez hit the glove every time but apparently the glove was always set up off the plate), followed by a beautifully pitched at bat to Chipper Jones for an easy double play (3-6-1).
Top 2nd 1-0 Rockies
Kawakami is letting the ball drift down and to the right. Someone on the Braves staff better see this and talk to him or the Rockies are going to end up with a big inning. This time it didn’t cost him anything. Clint Barmes was the only suitable hitter up in the inning to take advantage (double down the left field line with the bases empty).
Bot 2nd 1-0 Rockies
Ubaldo makes short work of Jayson Heyward with Yulen Escobar on second (walk to Troy Glaus, fielder’s choice, stolen base).  Pitch sequence: 1. Fast ball inside-strike one, curve ball outside-strike 2 (pretty pitch too), fast ball across the chest-ball 1, fast ball low away-K.
The set up pitch is designed to change to the approach of the batter, in this case to move the rookie back an inch or two (which it did). Heyward took his stance about an inch further away from the plate. Then you come back with the out pitch. A fastball low and away is already a hard pitch to hit well; all too often it just gets driven straight into the ground for an easy put out by the 3rd baseman. But if you’re standing away from the plate it becomes impossible. Heyward had no chance of hitting the ball well even if he had made contact. Nice pitching U-Ball.
Top 3rd 1-0 Rockies
Kamakami becomes the first pitcher of the game to keep the bases clean for an inning. But due to an 11 pitch at bat by Todd Helton, it still takes him 20 pitches to do it.
Bot 3rd 1-0 Rockies
After a walk to Melky Cabrera, Kawakami hangs his leading runner out to dry with a bad bunt.
Almost turns into a double play, on a bunt! Another walk puts Kawakami on second, and during Jones’ at bat Miguel Olivo guns him down for straying too far. Atlanta’s inning might have been better if Kawakami just took three strikes and a seat on the bench. Props to Olivo on the assist, perfect throw.
But the bad news is Jimenez is having control issues all of a sudden (you could tell by two walks). It’s not an easy one to diagnose either; he’s all over the place. Hopefully we just saw his once a game bad inning.
Top 4th 1-0 Rockies
Kawakami has corrected the drifting problem, however, now he’s pitching away from left handers. I don’t know why he would suddenly be timid with the lefties, but he’s putting himself in bad counts and it cost him three runs with three singles by Brad Hawpe, Ian Stewart, and U-Ball (first hit of the year) and a double by CarGo. The only lefty he got out in the inning was Dex, who is technically also a righty.
Bot 4th 4-0 Rockies
Ubaldo Jimenez definitely has control problems still. But he also still has a No-Hitter Shutout going. A Walk, a balk, and a sac put Chipper on Third with one out, but then U-Ball K’d Glaus and got Escobar to ground out. I don’t know how to feel.
Top 5th 4-0 Rockies
In Helton’s third plate appearance he only sees 8 pitches and then walks. So far today Todd is 0-1, has walked twice and seen 25 pitches. That’s an inning and a half worth of work for one guy. And what does Kawakami have to show for it? One measly fly out with the bases empty. Meanwhile, Todd’s first walk brought up Tulowitzki and his RBI sacrifice fly.
Bot 5th 4-0 Rockies
Another walk and another hitless scoreless inning by U-Ball. Jimenez has to find some control. Not just to close this game out now, but if Ubaldo gets to the ninth inning and already has 115 pitches on him, he might not get the shot at finishing the no-no. He has 83 pitches after five.
Top 6th 4-0 Rockies
The Braves are done with Kawakami. Enter Jonny Venters making his first MLB appearance. Tough to get a read on him but I’ll say this for him: he works quick. He takes maybe 8 seconds between pitches; might be a little excited. Good work though 3 batters; 3 outs. Of course they were the 7, 8, and 9 batters, but still impressive.
Bot 6th 4-0 Rockies
Ubaldo finally has an inning that looks like a no-hitter type inning. 10 pitches, 3 outs, 1 K. The K came against the best hitter in baseball entering the game (Prado .463 BA)
Top 7th 4-0 Rockies
Todd Helton welcomes another young player to baseball by being his first hit. Nice piece of hitting on a curveball inside; put it right in the gap between 1st and 2nd. The kid was able to put it behind him though; he got Tulo on a ground to third base on the next pitch.
Bot 7th 4-0 Rockies
Glaus took a poorly placed fastball into the left center gap and the speed of Dexter Fowler saved the No-Hitter for now. He was in no position to make the out, but he is fast, and just made it with a dive. It always seems like you need at least one of those to complete a no-no.
It’s time to start thinking that U-Ball has a shot at this thing. He’s got 104 pitches so far, so he’ll need a quick 8th but after that he’ll get left in until he blows it. It’d be nice if the offense could get a base runner or three and give Ubaldo 15-20 minutes rest.
Top 8th 4-0 Rockies
Stewart got a walk but that’s all the rest Jimenez will get. Venters is dealing. He’s due up, I wonder if they’ll pinch hit him.
Bot 8th 4-0 Rockies
They do decide to pinch Venters with Eric Henski. Props to Venters on his début; 3 innings, 1 hit, 1 walk, 0 Runs.
Now that the stuff you really care about is out of the way, Ubaldo gets a ground out, a strike out and a pop out on 8 pitches to keep the no-hitter alive. 113 pitches after 8 innings and he’ll almost certainly get the shot to close it out. I must admit I’m a little excited. I’ve seen the ESPN cut-overs in the Ninth Inning but I’ve never sat and watched an entire No Hitter. I hope that personal stat ends today.
Top 9th 4-0 Rockies
Jesse Chaves comes in to pitch the 8th. He promptly strikes out Jimenez, who is more than happy to return to the bench. Then he get fly outs from CarGo and Dex. 3 more outs for the Rockies. U-Ball will face Prado, Jones and Brian McCain. Tough outs all three.
Bot 9th 4-0 Rockies
He attacks Prado inside. On a 2-1 after two narrow misses Ubaldo gets Prado to pop up to Barmes. One Out.
Against Chipper Jones, Jimenez starts out working inside and outside and changing his pitches between curves and fastballs. Mixes in the Changeup on a 2-1 and gets a fly out to CarGo. Two Out.
McCain up with one out to go. U-Ball pounds the strike zone with fastballs away. McCain is no slouch and fouls off a few. Then U-Ball brings the fastball back inside. Ground out to Barmes.Â
Game Over, Rockies 4-0, P Ubaldo Jimenez Allowed 0 Hits and 0 Runs
The key was that Troy Glaus near-hit in the 7th that Dexter Fowler had to run underneath and dive to catch. Also figuring his way through the 6 walks in the first five innings was crucial to the win. But all in all, I’d say the 128 pitch performance by Ubaldo Jimenez was the best ever single game performance by a Rockies pitcher.
Control was an issue all the way through the 6th inning, but from the 7th on he had firm control of the game. Ubaldo finishes with 7 SO and 6 BB. A no-no with 6 BB is impressive. Even more impressive was the fact that this wasn’t the San Diego Padres. This was the Atlanta Braves.  By the end of the season Atlanta team will be a top-ten hitting team. U-Ball crushed a good team today.
More good news: this was a key game if the Rockies hope to claw their way back to .500 on the road.
Colorado has 4 in Washington after one more in Atlanta tomorrow. They must win three to get to .500. That is now doable.  There is no bad news. The news we don’t yet know if it’s good or bad is the Braves will be chomping at the bit to redeem themselves tomorrow.  Greg Smith might be up for it, but he certainly has a tough act to follow. His foe will be Jair Jurrjens who will also be aiming to redeem his last outing (at San Diego 3.1 Innings, 8 runs…..Come to think of it that might be the opposite of this game).
