After spending more than a year-and-a-half struggling to regain his effectiveness, Ubaldo Jimenez is looking more like the pitcher the Indians thought they were acquiring mid-2011. The Tribe right-hander dominated Tampa Bay on Saturday afternoon, throwing eight innings of four-hit ball, striking out seven, and more importantly, walking just a single batter. He also threw 72 of his 108 pitches for strikes.

The start marks only the second time that he completed eight innings during his stint in Cleveland. The last time he completed the feat was way back on August 10, 2011, spanning a total of 50 starts.

After beginning the season with the same type of struggles as 2012, Jimenez finally looks like he turned the corner. In six of his last seven starts he’s allowed two or fewer runs, while striking out 46 and walking just 16.

Offensively speaking, designated hitter Jason Giambi went two-for-four with a double and a dinger, his fifth of the year, while driving in three. And shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera added his fifth homerun of the year too, a two-run shot in the fifth inning.

Vinnie Pestano, who’s looked shaky the last several outings, pitched a scoreless ninth inning, issuing one free pass.

Tampa Bay’s starter Chris Archer is a former member of the Cleveland organization, having been traded as part of the package to the Cubs that fetched utility man Mark DeRosa. Chicago then sent the promising right-hander to Tampa in January 2011, for Matt Garza.

The win is the third for the Tribe in the last four games. Zach McAllister looks to the team the series win tomorrow against the struggling Jeremy Hellickson. Game time is 1:05.

4 Comments

  • medfest says:

    I was at the game and Jimenez was just …..WOW……the Rays hit the ball hard on just a few occasions.

    Jimenez threw a 77 mph dead fish to Longoria for a called third strike that was a thing of beauty.

    Everything he threw moved like crazy, I think his top radar gun reading was only 91 mph.

    Giambi just raked a high Archer fastball for the dinger,not bad for a 42 year old.Cabrera hit the same pitch for his shot as well.

    The Belle bobblehead is a nice item,kinda creepy,but nice.

  • Steve Alex says:

    Jimenez has been phenomenal the last six weeks. I never thought I would hear myself say that. He has successfully learned how to pitch with less velocity, and maybe saved his career in the process. His mechanics are still fragile, but he now has a solid body of work providing confidence and muscle memory.

  • Sean Porter says:

    Mickey Callaway should get a statue erected of his likeness next to the Feller statue for helping Ubaldo actually resemble a major league pitcher.

    If Ubaldo ends the season with an ERA under 4.00, a statue wouldn’t be worthy of such a feat. At the minimum the organization should rename the ballpark “Callaway Field” or perhaps even the team the Cleveland “Callaways”…

    • medfest says:

      It just dawned on me that I was wearing a red ‘Callaway Golf’ polo shirt at the game.Needless to say this will be my official Ubaldo watching shirt from now on.

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