Arizona @ Colorado preview

Last Meeting ( Apr 26, 2010 ) Arizona 5, Colorado 3

Ubaldo Jimenez has always been tough on the Arizona Diamondbacks.

And the Diamondbacks haven’t seen this version of the flame-throwing right-hander. Jimenez is off to an unreal start to the 2010 season with the Colorado Rockies, winning all four starts and even posting the franchise’s first no-hitter, with a 0.95 ERA.

He is so confident in his abilities right now, he’d eat a Sloppy Joe without a napkin.

Jimenez backed up his no-hitter against the Atlanta Braves on April 17 by tossing 7 1/3 innings of scoreless ball against the Washington Nationals in his last outing.

The 26-year-old comes into his start Tuesday against the Diamondbacks on a roll - and if history is any indication, that should continue.

Jimenez is 2-2 in eight career games against the Diamondbacks with 2.75 ERA and 59 strikeouts in 52 1/3 innings. Those numbers don’t include the five-inning no-decision in 2007 NL Championship Series in which he allowed one earned run and struck out six hitters.

The difference this season has been Jimenez’s command as his walks per nine innings has dropped from 4.7 over the 2007 and 2008 seasons to 3.8 since the start of the 2009 season.

When he is not giving free passes, it can be awful hard to get on base against those 100-plus fastballs and sliders and spilt-fingers with reguarly reach 91 mph.

The Diamondbacks counter with Edwin Jackson, another hard-throwing right-hander, as Arizona attempts to win its third straight game and make its way back to .500.

Jackson (1-1, 3.81) has two straight no-decisions despite a 2.57 ERA as the bullpen continues to give games away.

The bullpen has righted itself over the last four games. The Diamondbacks won three of those with right-handers Leo Rosales and Chad Qualls performing well over that time frame.

The Diamondbacks’ offense has been doing well of late and received good news Monday when right fielder Justin Upton returned to the lineup after being pulled in Sunday because he fouled a ball off his shin.

Arizona is averaging seven runs a game over the last five and entered Monday’s action leading the National League in home runs (27) and ranked second in RBIs (100) and slugging percentage (.465).

The one hiccup, however, is the offense has been providing very little offense outside of the long ball, but that started to change Monday as the Diamondbacks’ tacked on a couple of runs – the winning margin in a 5-3 decision against the Rockies – with a sac fly and a RBI single by Upton.