Boston @ Colorado preview
Coors Field
Last Meeting ( Jun 22, 2010 ) Boston 1, Colorado 2
For one of the few times this season, Ubaldo Jimenez will have a tough act to follow for the Colorado Rockies.
Jimenez looks to continue his sensational start when he takes the hill Wednesday night in the middle game of a three-game series vs. the visiting Boston Red Sox.
Behind the pitching of rookie Jhoulys Chacin, the Rockies’ snapped Boston’s six-game winning streak with a 2-1 victory in Tuesday’s series opener.
Chacin pitched 6 2/3 scoreless innings to outduel Red Sox ace Jon Lester and snap a personal four-game losing streak.
The 22-year-old Chacin had no margin of error against Lester, who had his own eight-game winning streak snapped despite allowing just one run on six hits in six innings.
Lester had not lost since April 18 and has been the second-best pitcher in the majors over the past two months. Unfortunately for the Red Sox, they will be facing the best tonight.
Jimenez (13-1) has put up once-in-a-generation numbers, winning 13 of his 14 outings for the best start to a season since Roger Clemens opened the 1986 season with 14 straight victories for the Red Sox.
The fireballing right-hander, whose fastball has been clocked at 100 mph, is riding a seven-game winning streak and sports a microscopic 1.15 ERA.
Jimenez has allowed just 13 runs total on the year and has yielded one run or fewer in 10 of his 14 starts. And it’s not like he’s pitching in non-pressure situations – Jimenez is 10-0 following a Colorado loss.
Heard enough to be wowed? Then there’s no need to mention the no-hitter he threw in his third start of the season at Atlanta.
This will not be Boston’s first glimpse of Jimenez. As a rookie in 2007, Jimenez was the starter and loser in Game 2 of the World Series against the Red Sox.
He went 4 2/3 innings in that game, allowing two runs on just three hits. Jimenez’s biggest issue that night was a lack of control, as he walked five and hit a batter while throwing just 50 of 91 pitches for strikes.
Opposing Jimenez will be Red Sox right-hander John Lackey (8-3), who has not pitched as well as his record indicates (see 4.53 ERA). It hasn’t hurt that Boston has scored 43 runs in his last five outings.
Lackey simply is putting too many runners on base. He has surrendered 101 hits in 87 1/3 innings and has already walked 37 batters after issuing 47 and 40 free passes, respectively, in the previous two seasons.
Colorado’s offense got a welcome boost from first baseman Todd Helton on Tuesday. He had two hits, drove in a run and scored the other run.
Helton had been mired in a 2-for-18 slump that included eight strikeouts.