The Indians were defeated, 7-1, in the series finale at Comerica Park on Wednesday night, but it did not reflect how well starter Ubaldo Jimenez pitched.
“If you weren’t here or [don’t] pay attention to it and see the box score, you probably don’t think it was a good game,” manager Manny Acta said. “But it was a very good ballgame up until that [eighth] inning. That was the only bad inning of pitching we had the whole series.”
For the majority of the game, it had been a pitchers’ duel between Jimenez and Tigers right-hander Doug Fister. It was a one-run game until the Tigers broke it open in the eighth.
Jimenez entered the night with a 5.61 ERA on the season — the second-worst mark in the American League — and a 1-7 record since the All-Star break. Through the first seven innings, his effort was worthy of a victory.
The 28-year-old made one mistake early. It came in the first inning against one of the best hitters in baseball. Tigers third baseman Miguel Cabrera belted his 35th home run of the season, a two-run shot to left field on a 94-mph fastball.
“To tell you the truth, the first guy got a bloop single and Cabrera, he hit a pitch away,” Jimenez said. “He’s a good hitter. He just took it to that side. It wasn’t like I was fighting behind the count or walking people, he’s just a great hitter.”
After that, he would retire 12 of the next 13 Tigers that came to the plate, and set down nine in a row before catcher Alex Avila singled in the sixth inning to end the streak.
“The thing about him is if he’s throwing strikes, he’s going to be nasty, especially with his offspeed stuff,” Avila said. “He was pretty good. You have to give them credit, their staff pitched really well this series.”
The wheels fell off on Jimenez’s hopes for a win and a three-game sweep.
Jimenez walked Austin Jackson in the eighth inning with one out and promptly gave up an RBI triple to Andy Dirks to make the score 3-1. While Jimenez struggled in the eighth, it seemed to be the right choice to let him go after just 81 pitches.
Click here to read more of this story.
About Marion Online Sports
