Ubaldo Jimenez’s fastball twice hit 97 mph Monday night. Throw in his knee-buckling changeup and a biting slider, and he sometimes looks unhittable.
But it was Atlanta rookie Jair Jurrjens, the architect of the Braves’ 7-1 victory over the Rockies, who walked off the diamond at Coors Field with a big smile on his face. At the tender age of 22, he’s already looking like a polished pitcher and has a 7-3 record to prove it. His seven victories lead major-league rookies.
Jimenez, for all of his raw firepower, fell to 1-7. He has not pitched the way the defending National League champions expected, or hoped, he would.
“I had good velocity, was throwing hard and I got too excited tonight,” said Jimenez, who was coming off a seven-inning, four-hit game against the Giants in what was easily his best performance of the season.
Against the Giants, he didn’t try to overthrow and was content to get groundball outs. But old habits die hard, and they crept back into his mind-set Monday night.
So the education of Jimenez continues as the Rockies — 14 games under .500 — struggle to find their way to get back into playoff contention.
Jurrjens muffled the Rockies’ bats for 7 2/3 innings, allowing no runs. He struck out seven and walked only two. At first glance, Jurrjens’ stuff doesn’t seem nearly as electric as Jimenez’s, but it’s certainly been more effective.
“He had a really sneaky fastball,” said second baseman Ian Stewart, who went 0-for-5 and struck out three times, twice against Jurrjens. “He’s got a real slow delivery, then kind of speeds up. He’s tough to hit.”
For Rockies manager Clint Hurdle, the contrast between the two young pitchers was easy to spot. “The most significant difference was pitching efficiency,” Hurdle said.
Jimenez struck out seven Braves, but he also walked five and needed 110 pitches to get through five innings. Jurrjens needed just 103 pitches in his nearly eight innings of work.
The game turned on a fifth-inning showdown between Jimenez’s raw heat and Chipper Jones’ magic bat. Jones, hitting .403, worked the count to 3-1 and then ripped a two-run, bases-loaded single to right, opening the door for a Braves rout that marked just their 10th road win of the season.
“Ubaldo definitely wasn’t sharp,” Hurdle said. “He’s so close in so many ways, but there is still that glitch that’s costing him. He painted himself into a corner with (two) walks in the fifth, and then when you have to face a .400 hitter like Jones, you’re asking for trouble.”
Atlanta tucked the game away in the seventh, ganging up on reliever Matt Herges for three hits, with Jeff Francoeur’s two-run double the decisive blow. The Braves added two more runs in the ninth off struggling former closer Manuel Corpas, whose ERA ballooned to 6.37.
But even if Colorado’s pitching had been sharp, its continuing and maddening lack of clutch hitting might have stood in the way of a victory. The Rockies were only 2-for-14 with runners in scoring position, and they are just 6-for-37 in those situations over their last four games.
Patrick Saunders: 303-954-1428 or psaunders@denverpost.com
TODAY: Indians at Rockies, 7:05 p.m., FSN
Both Indians right-hander Paul Byrd (3-6, 4.89 ERA) and Rockies rookie right-hander Greg Reynolds (1-4, 6.69) have been susceptible to home runs and rocky early innings. Byrd gave up his American League-leading 17th homer against the Twins last Wednesday. In previous stints at Coors Field, he is 0-2 with a 9.82 ERA in five career appearances. Reynolds possesses a good sinkerwhen it sinks. But in his last start he left his money pitch up over the plate, and the Giants cashed in for eight runs on 10 hits in 3 1/3 innings. Reynolds has given up nine homers in his seven starts. Patrick Saunders, The Denver Post
Wednesday:
Indians’ Aaron Laffey (4-3, 2.83 ERA) vs. Rockies’ Jeff Francis (2-6, 5.49), 7:05 p.m., FSN
Thursday:
Indians’ Jeremy Sowers (0-1, 7.23) vs. Rockies’ Jorge De La Rosa (1-3, 6.89), 7:05 p.m., FSN
Friday:
Mets’ TBA vs. Rockies’ Aaron Cook (10-3, 3.29), 7:05 p.m., FSN
Saturday:
Mets’ John Maine (6-5, 3.87) vs. Rockies’ Ubaldo Jimenez (1-7, 4.85), 6:05 p.m., FSN
