Colorado @ Arizona preview
Chase Field
Last Meeting ( Aug 20, 2010 ) Colorado 3, Arizona 4
There was a time this season that Ubaldo Jimenez did nothing but win and looked like a shoo-in for the National League Cy Young Award. Things aren’t quite as clear anymore.
Jimenez will be looking to snap a two-start winless streak when the Colorado Rockies face the Arizona Diamondbacks on Saturday.
The breakout star of the first half, Jimenez earned a decision in each of his first 14 starts, going 13-1 during that stretch to take a commanding lead over the rest of the field in the “wins” category. His ERA at that point was a cool 1.15 as well, positioning him nicely for a run at the Cy Young Award and a historic season.
But things fell off the rails a bit after that. The Dominican right-hander struggled to a 7.64 ERA over his next six starts, culminating with a season-low two-inning stint against the Philadelphia Phillies on July 24 that lifted his season ERA to 2.75.
Suddenly Jimenez was no longer a lock to win the Cy Young Award or even one of the front runners, having been surpassed by St. Louis Cardinals stud Adam Wainwright, Florida Marlins ace Josh Johnson and Philadelphia phenom Roy Halladay.
Maybe the pressure being off in that regard helped, because Jimenez has gone back to his early-season form over his last four starts. He has posted a 1.86 ERA while striking out 33 batters in 29 total innings.
Only the Rockies’ general malaise has kept Jimenez from dominating the win column again, as he was on the losing end of a 1-0 decision on Aug. 10 and watched as the bullpen let one slip away last Sunday.
The bullpen was back at it in the series opener on Friday, as Huston Street squandered a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the ninth inning. Miguel Montero’s two-run double sent the game into extra innings, where Kelly Johnson doubled in the winning run off Joe Beimel in the 10th.
Colorado managed only three runs despite 12 hits, leaving eight runners in scoring position with two outs. The Rockies have been having a lot of trouble pushing runs across recently and were shut out twice while losing two of three to the Los Angeles Dodgers earlier in the week.
Taking the ball for the Diamondbacks on Saturday will be rookie Barry Enright. Getting a chance to stake his claim to a major league job in an otherwise lost season for Arizona, Enright has run with the opportunity. He has permitted three runs or less in each of his nine major league starts for a 2.91 ERA.
The 24-year-old right-hander has not earned a decision in either of his last two starts, surrendering a total of four runs on nine hits in 11 innings against the Milwaukee Brewers and Washington Nationals.