Ubaldo Jimenez went into Monday’s start against the Yankees in hopes of improving off of his last start against Boston and helping The Birds win their first game against New York in 2014.
The 30-year-old starter gave up four runs over six innings against the Red Sox on April 2nd. He walked three and let up two home-runs in a 6-2 loss.
Here’s a rundown of Jimenez’s day, including his final line, pitch count, and ball-to-strike ratio.
FIRST INNING
Gardner grounds out
Jeter strikes out
Ellsbury lines out
Jimenez started off with what seemed like an inning that would set the tone for the whole game. Against the top of the lineup, he was able to keep the ball low and work a quick first inning. Working low in the zone and making a statement strikeout against Jeter, Jimenez looked set for a big performance.
SECOND INNING
Beltran walks
McCann pops out
Soriano walks
Roberts strikes out
Johnson strikes out
Although he appeared erratic in his first walk to Beltran, Jimenez was able to take charge against Brian Roberts for a big strikeout. He started to trust his off-speed to set up fastballs in this inning, and often did it effectively. Although everything started to sail high, he was able to use multiple fastballs at 94 and 95 (according to MASN) to work his way out of the early jam.
However, the walks were a hint of things to come.
THIRD INNING
Solarte walks
Gardner singles
Jeter grounds into DP, RBI
Ellsbury singles
Beltran strikes out
This was an interesting inning for Ubaldo. He got ahead of the #9 hitter, Solarte, 0-2, but lost him. Despite having runners at the corners with no outs, he got Jeter to ground into a double play to stop the rally in its tracks and keep the impact on the scoreboard to a minimum. He stayed strong through a Yankee lineup that really did have good at-bats all afternoon. With defensive help, Jimenez was able to work through the third inning and have a nice result compared to what could have been a huge inning for the guys in pinstripes.
FOURTH INNING
McCann pops out
Soriano singles
Roberts flies out
Johnson walks
Solarte singles, RBI
Gardner strikes out
After taking charge of the inning’s start and calling off other infielders to catch a pop-out for the first out, Jimenez came close to losing it completely. Although he fought with a lot of effective off-speed pitches, the Yankees were simply better at the plate than Ubaldo was on the mound. The walk to Kelly Johnson was the at-bat that hurt the most – and after a long at-bat to Brett Gardner at the end, it was clear that Jimenez would go no longer than the 5th inning.
FIFTH INNING
Jeter doubles
Ellsbury singles, RBI
Beltran singles
McCann flies out
Soriano singles
Roberts walks
In the end, Jimenez couldn’t stay effective for very long. He left after walking Roberts despite jumping ahead 0-2. Zach Britton came in and issued a walk with the bases loaded before recording the third out, so Jimenez was charged with four ER. Much like his first start, he left too many balls over the plate and couldn’t put Yankee hitters away and pitch like he did in the first inning. He stuck with his off-speed until the end, a possible encouraging sign for the road ahead.
He’s now walked eight batters in 10.2 innings after walking seven in 44.1 IP last September.
FINAL LINE: 4.2 innings, 8 hits, 4 earned runs, 5 walks, 4 strikeouts, LOSS ; 109 pitches – 65 strikes
The Orioles are now 2-5 and are currently holding down last place in the AL East. Tomorrow’s starters will be Ivan Nova and Wei-Yin Chen.
photo: Craig Landefeld
