Colorado @ San Diego preview
Petco Park
Last Meeting ( May 5, 2010 ) Colorado 6, San Diego 5
Ubaldo Jimenez is no longer untouchable.
The Colorado Rockies' sensational starting pitcher is still winning games, but the nasty right-hander is no longer pitching like it is 1968 - long considered the year of the pitcher.
It’s not like Jimenez (13-1, 1.60 ERA) is being treated like a run-of-the mill pitcher, but after a 33-inning scoreless streak, allowing more than one run seems like a bad outing.
Jimenez enters Monday’s start against the NL West-leading San Diego Padres at Petco Park coming off his worst outing of the season. He allowed six earned runs in 5 2/3 innings.
Over his last four starts, Jimenez has allowed 12 earned runs in 26 2/3 innings for a 4.06 ERA - compared to an 0.78 ERA in his first 11 starts of the season.
Colorado needs Jimenez to be at his best against the Padres, who have a 4 1/2-game lead over the San Francisco Giants. The Rockies are in fourth place at six games back.
Colorado has used late-season surges in the standings to make the postseason in both 2007 and 2009. Although it's only June, if the Rockies don’t play well in this series, they may be getting close to trying to tackle that task again.
The Rockies have dropped to ninth in the National League in hitting at .259. They are also mired in the back in several other offensive categories.
One of the problems all season long has been the production of longtime first baseman Todd Helton, a career .325 hitter who is in danger of hitting under .300 for just the second time in his 14-year career.
Helton lost his home run stroke years ago - he hasn’t hit 20 home runs or more since 2005 - but now he isn’t getting on base or driving in runs like in years past, either. Helton is hitting .250 with two home runs and 15 RBIs in 65 games.
The former Tennessee quarterback will look to turn it around against one of the Padres’ few struggling pitchers in right-hander Kevin Corriea.
Corriea (5-5, 5.14 ERA) has just one win since April ended. Over his last nine starts, he has posted a 1-4 mark.
The Padres, however, are playing well overall with their largest division lead of the season at 4 1/2 games after winning six of their last seven games.
Now that interleague play is over, there will be more divisional head-to-head matchups. As a result, San Diego has a chance to squash some of the hopes of the Rockies by winning this series.