Ubaldo Jimenez walked slowly off the mound at Progressive Field and heard it from the home crowd with each step he took. The closer the pitcher moved to Tribe’s dugout, the louder the boos rained down from the frustrated fans.
It was only the second inning on Tuesday night, but the hole Jimenez dug in his abbreviated appearance was too deep for the Indians to overcome in 7-2 loss to the Red Sox. All seven runs produced by Red Sox, who were playing with heavy hearts in the wake of Monday’s bombings at the Boston Marathon, were charged to Jimenez.
This was another ugly entry to Jimenez’s long list of rough outings since joining the Indians.
“That’s probably pretty much the lowest I can get,” Jimenez said.
Three summers ago, the Tribe acquired Jimenez at the July 31 non-waiver Trade Deadline from the Rockies in exchange for a package of four prospects. Since he came to Cleveland, the lanky right-hander has continuously tinkered with his mechanics, searching for lost velocity and the type of rhythm that made him a National League Cy Young Award contender once upon a time.
It has been the same this season. In light of a pair of rainouts last week, the Indians chose to skip Jimenez in the rotation in favor of giving him a pair of side sessions to sort through some delivery issues. Jimenez worked with pitching coach Mickey Callaway on keeping his front side closed and pounding the lower half of the strike zone, and the pitcher felt confident in his adjustments leading up to this outing against Boston.
“Mickey worked on direction to the plate and throwing the ball downhill, just pounding the zone down,” manager Terry Francona said. “You can be frustrated, or you can try to make it better. I think we choose to try to make it better. As long as he keeps working, we’re going to work hard. We want to get it right.”
Jimenez said the plan now is to go back to throwing two side sessions between starts on a regular basis. That is the approach he had during Spring Training, and following a meeting with Callaway after his latest meltdown on the mound, Jimenez is going to return to that schedule.
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