They put on an old-fashioned pitching duel at National Park on Thursday afternoon.
Fresh off a no-hitter last weekend, Colorado Rockies ace Ubaldo Jimenez had little trouble with the Nationals’ makeshift lineup. Washington starter Livan Hernandez, meanwhile, spent eight innings baffling yet another National League offense.
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In the end, Jimenez was just a little better than the ageless Cuban in a 2-0 win for the Rockies. He tossed 7 1/3 scoreless innings and has allowed just three earned runs in 28 1/3 innings so far this season – looking every bit the Cy Young Award candidate he was expected to be. Jimenez, a 6-foot-4 right-hander, also no-hit the Atlanta Braves last Saturday and has an ERA of .95 in four starts.
“[Jimenez] has the stuff to win 20 games every year,” said Hernandez, who had a short stint with the Rockies in 2008 and saw the 26-year-old up close in his first full season with Colorado. “If he continues pitching like that he can win a Cy Young.”
Jimenez possesses a powerful arsenal that was too much for the Nats (8-8), who played without third baseman Ryan Zimmerman (hamstring injury) and left fielder Josh Willingham – the team’s No. 3 and No. 5 hitters. Willingham was given the day off until pinch-hitting duties in the eighth inning. Jimenez gave up a leadoff single in that frame and then a wild pitch. But reliever Joe Beimel – a former National before a trade last summer to the Rockies – escaped a first-and-third jam with one out. Willie Harris flied out to right to finish the inning.
“He’s electric,” Nats leadoff batter Nyjer Morgan said of Jimenez.
Hernandez was efficient yet again, holding Colorado to four hits in eight innings and walking just two batters. He threw 94 pitches – 62 of those for strikes. Hernandez gave up solo home runs to Miguel Olivo in the second inning and Ian Stewart in the seventh. The Nats’ defense also turned two double plays to help out, including one started by a fine over-the-shoulder basket catch from second baseman Adam Kennedy with a man on in the seventh. Hernandez (.75 ERA) has now pitched 24 innings in three starts in 2010 with just Thursday’s two runs allowed. His scoreless string to start the year was snapped at 17 2/3 innings – the longest streak in Major League Baseball this season and most for a Nats pitcher since the team arrived in Washington in 2005.
“[Hernandez] has been pitching his [rear end] off for us,” Morgan said. “And you feel bad because he’s a guy you always want to battle for. We just couldn’t get it done at the plate today.”
Ivan Rodriguez had two singles for Washington and now has nine multi-hit games this season. That leads all Nats batters. He also continues to lead the National League with a .449 batting average. The two teams split the four-game series and Washington sits at .500 despite a tough early schedule with 10 games against the two-time National League champion Phillies and the Rockies, considered favorites to win the National League West.
“You want the other team to feel like they’ve earned a win,” Nats manager Jim Riggleman said. “At the same time, it’s about winning. Nobody here is happy with just being a .500 team. We feel like our potential is better than that.”
