It hasn’t worked at all.
Starting pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez yesterday against the Detoit Tigers. (AP exchange.)
Monday, Jimenez allowed six runs in five innings as the Indians were routed 14-0 by Detroit in a game that means nothing to a pennant race that ended weeks ago.
Jimenez has faced Detroit four times since joining the Indians on July 31, losing three times. Including a start with the Rockies, he is 2-3 with a 6.35 ERA against the Tigers this season.
“Eventually, he’s going to have to figure them out,” Indians manager Manny Acta said. “We see them 18 times a year.”
This time, Jimenez allowed 12 baserunners, including four extra-base hits.
“I was getting into hitter’s counts and they were taking advantage,” he said. “That’s a powerful lineup, and they’ve got guys who can hurt you on every pitch.”
Detroit had considered trading for Jimenez as well, but decided the Rockies wanted too much and dealt for Doug Fister instead.
The impact of the decision was obvious Monday. Fister (11-13) didn’t allow a runner until Asdrubal Cabrera’s two-out single in the fourth, and the Indians didn’t get a runner into scoring position until Ezequiel Carrera reached second on a single and an error with one out in the eighth.
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By that point, the Tigers led 6-0, and they still had an eight-run eighth to come.
“He works quick, he’s got a heavy sinker and a cutter,” Indians catcher Lou Marson said. “We had nothing for him, to be honest.”
Detroit’s choice of Fister over Jimenez has looked brilliant for six weeks. He and Justin Verlander, who are scheduled to start the first two games of Detroit’s first-round playoff series, are now a combined 14-0 with a 1.61 ERA in 16 appearances since August 16.
“I’ve never had anything like that before,” Leyland said. “14-0? Never.”
Fister, who allowed three singles while striking out nine, has been even better than the Cy Young favorite in the stretch, going 7-0 with a 0.65 ERA in his last eight outings. Fister, who was picked up in a six-player deal with Seattle on July 30, has now gone 20 innings without walking a batter.
“His command is amazing,” said catcher Alex Avila, who drove in three runs. “It’s easy to catch him, because he throws so many strikes. He’s putting everything where he wants it right now. It feels great going into the playoffs with two of the best pitchers in baseball right now.”
Victor Martinez, who has been to the postseason with Cleveland and Boston, thinks this might be his best chance at winning a World Series.
“It’s definitely a great feeling to be going into the playoffs like this,” he said. “With those two guys pitching like this, the rest of our pitchers and our lineup, we’ve got a chance to do some great things.”
The Tigers took a 1-0 lead on Ryan Raburn’s RBI triple in the second, then scored three times in the third. With one out, Will Rhymes singled. Jimenez retired Don Kelly, but Dmitri Young and Miguel Cabrera singled to make it 2-0. Martinez walked, loading the bases, and Alex Avila hit a two-run double.
By that point, Martinez had given the Tigers a 5-0 lead with an RBI double in the fifth, and then scored Detroit’s sixth run on Avila’s base hit.
The Tigers put the game away with nine hits in the eighth, highlighted by a long 3-run homer by Young, another midseason acquistion. Detroit’s first seven batters of the inning got hits before Omir Santos, hitting for Avila, struck out.
Notable
- Third base umpire Manny Gonzalez was hit in the right shin by the barrel of Shelley Duncan’s broken bat on a fifth-inning groundout. Gonzalez was checked briefly by Tigers trainer Kevin Rand, but stayed in the game.
- Indians reliever Corey Kluber, making his third career appearance, hit Kelly and Young with back-to-back pitches in the sixth inning, and nearly hit Kelly again in the eighth.
