SAN FRANCISCO — Maybe a couple of years ago, Ubaldo Jimenez's emotions would have gotten the best of him. But not now. Not after his evolution into the most dominant pitcher in baseball.
"I went to bed at 10 last night and slept great," Jimenez said. "I was anticipating this game, but I was like, 'Don't get too high. Just go out there and try to execute your pitches. Throw your fastball for strikes.' And that's what I did."
It sounds so simple, and for Jimenez, it is. His start Monday versus the San Francisco Giants may have been more hyped than his previous 10, but his MO, his demeanor and the results were largely the same as the others.
Yes, Jimenez threw a four-hit shutout to beat the Giants 4-0. And yes, He beat two-time Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum in the process. But all hype aside — Jimenez was deluged with e-mails and Facebook contacts in the days preceding the game — it was just another stop on the U the Man Tour 2010.
"I'm beginning to run out of words, really, to describe not only the excellence, but the dominance in which this guy is pitching up to this point," Rockies manager Jim Tracy said. "This is just another fabulous start."
In Jimenez's parallel universe, fabulous has become routine. To wit: He had four previous starts in which he had allowed fewer than four hits, including the first no-hitter in Rockies' history.
The Rockies are running out of words to describe Jimenez, so Troy Tulowitzki used three letters: MVP. No one in the Rockies' clubhouse is predicting that Jimenez will win the award, but there's little doubt he has been the National League's MVP for the first two months of the season.
"I think it's pretty easy," Tulowitzki said. "Any time a pitcher puts up numbers like this, he's definitely the MVP of the league. Over the course of the season, a lot of guys have to step up, and he's carried us these first two months.
"To say we expected this . . no one has really ever done what he's doing right now. We all knew he was good, but the numbers he's putting up, you don't think that's really obtainable."
Ah, the numbers. Jimenez (10-1) became the first 10-game winner in baseball. His ERA is 0.78. He's 4-0, 1.29 at Coors Field and 6-1, 0.52 on the road. It's a few hours into June and he's one victory away from tying the franchise record for wins before the all-star break.
Oh, and then there's the scoreless innings streak. He's at 26 and counting, the longest by a starter in franchise history. Whose record did he break? His own. He had a 25 1/3-inning streak earlier in the season.
Even Lincecum, who knows a thing or three about dominant pitching, is impressed. He knew he was in trouble in the second inning when Clint Barmes banged a two-out single up the middle to put the Rockies up 2-0.
"Yeah, a little bit," Lincecum said. "It's pretty unreal. You've got to be pretty dang good to do what he's doing right now. I wanted to stick more to my game, but I put a little pressure on myself, or a lot of pressure on myself."
Lincecum feeling the pressure pitching against Jimenez, not vice versa. Have you ever? Not if you're a Rockies fan, you haven't.
"He has electric stuff, simple as that," Giants center fielder Aaron Rowand said.
"Best pitcher in the National League," Pablo Sandoval said.
This wasn't vintage Lincecum, no thanks to the blister problems that have plagued him for much of the season. He has allowed 14 earned runs and 15 walks in his last 15 1/3 innings. But still, a win over a two-time Cy Young winner in a holiday matinee on the road, with seemingly everyone in his native Dominican Republic watching — that's what Jimenez did on his Memorial Day vacation.
He allowed one baserunner to reach second base in the first eight innings. When runners reached second and third in the ninth, Tracy walked to the mound for a visit before Juan Uribe came to the plate.
"I told him, 'I'm fine, let me finish,' " Jimenez said. "I wasn't nervous at all. I was going to throw everything I had left, and that's what I did."
So it is that he reaches double digits in wins before any other pitcher in the game.
Where do we go from here?
"I don't know," Tracy said. "It's 10-1 . . . and we obviously know we're maybe a couple of base hits away from 11-0. He hasn't pitched a bad game, and he has the mental focus right now that he's not interested in pitching a bad game. And he may not . . . he may not."
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"I went to bed at 10 last night and slept great," Jimenez said. "I was anticipating this game, but I was like, 'Don't get too high. Just go out there and try to execute your pitches. Throw your fastball for strikes.' And that's what I did."
It sounds so simple, and for Jimenez, it is. His start Monday versus the San Francisco Giants may have been more hyped than his previous 10, but his MO, his demeanor and the results were largely the same as the others.
Yes, Jimenez threw a four-hit shutout to beat the Giants 4-0. And yes, He beat two-time Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum in the process. But all hype aside — Jimenez was deluged with e-mails and Facebook contacts in the days preceding the game — it was just another stop on the U the Man Tour 2010.
"I'm beginning to run out of words, really, to describe not only the excellence, but the dominance in which this guy is pitching up to this point," Rockies manager Jim Tracy said. "This is just another fabulous start."
In Jimenez's parallel universe, fabulous has become routine. To wit: He had four previous starts in which he had allowed fewer than four hits, including the first no-hitter in Rockies' history.
The Rockies are running out of words to describe Jimenez, so Troy Tulowitzki used three letters: MVP. No one in the Rockies' clubhouse is predicting that Jimenez will win the award, but there's little doubt he has been the National League's MVP for the first two months of the season.
"I think it's pretty easy," Tulowitzki said. "Any time a pitcher puts up numbers like this, he's definitely the MVP of the league. Over the course of the season, a lot of guys have to step up, and he's carried us these first two months.
"To say we expected this . . no one has really ever done what he's doing right now. We all knew he was good, but the numbers he's putting up, you don't think that's really obtainable."
Ah, the numbers. Jimenez (10-1) became the first 10-game winner in baseball. His ERA is 0.78. He's 4-0, 1.29 at Coors Field and 6-1, 0.52 on the road. It's a few hours into June and he's one victory away from tying the franchise record for wins before the all-star break.
Oh, and then there's the scoreless innings streak. He's at 26 and counting, the longest by a starter in franchise history. Whose record did he break? His own. He had a 25 1/3-inning streak earlier in the season.
Even Lincecum, who knows a thing or three about dominant pitching, is impressed. He knew he was in trouble in the second inning when Clint Barmes banged a two-out single up the middle to put the Rockies up 2-0.
"Yeah, a little bit," Lincecum said. "It's pretty unreal. You've got to be pretty dang good to do what he's doing right now. I wanted to stick more to my game, but I put a little pressure on myself, or a lot of pressure on myself."
Lincecum feeling the pressure pitching against Jimenez, not vice versa. Have you ever? Not if you're a Rockies fan, you haven't.
"He has electric stuff, simple as that," Giants center fielder Aaron Rowand said.
"Best pitcher in the National League," Pablo Sandoval said.
This wasn't vintage Lincecum, no thanks to the blister problems that have plagued him for much of the season. He has allowed 14 earned runs and 15 walks in his last 15 1/3 innings. But still, a win over a two-time Cy Young winner in a holiday matinee on the road, with seemingly everyone in his native Dominican Republic watching — that's what Jimenez did on his Memorial Day vacation.
He allowed one baserunner to reach second base in the first eight innings. When runners reached second and third in the ninth, Tracy walked to the mound for a visit before Juan Uribe came to the plate.
"I told him, 'I'm fine, let me finish,' " Jimenez said. "I wasn't nervous at all. I was going to throw everything I had left, and that's what I did."
So it is that he reaches double digits in wins before any other pitcher in the game.
Where do we go from here?
"I don't know," Tracy said. "It's 10-1 . . . and we obviously know we're maybe a couple of base hits away from 11-0. He hasn't pitched a bad game, and he has the mental focus right now that he's not interested in pitching a bad game. And he may not . . . he may not."
DenverPost.com
