Ubaldo Jiménez on his dominant start, plus other postgame quotes

TORONTO - On April 17, 2010, then-Colorado Rockies right-hander Ubaldo Jiménez threw a no-hitter at Atlanta in a 4-0 win. Tonight, he said the quality of his pitches compared to that outing.

Jiménez was dominant against the Toronto Blue Jays, allowing just two doubles over eight scoreless innings as the Orioles beat Toronto 2-0 to take two of three here.

"Yeah (this compared to the no-hitter). It felt pretty good," he said. "I could throw any pitch in any count. Everything was moving. The split was crazy. The slider was good. Fastball was moving in and out. It is one of those days like when I threw the no-hitter in Colorado. I had the same feeling. I wish I could get that feeling every single game, I could find the secret to keep that. But it's a wonderful feeling."

Jiménez began the night with a record of 2-3 and ERA of 7.26. He was also coming off a start at Tampa Bay where he allowed nine runs (to tie a career high) in 2 1/3 innings. This was quite different.

"It was fun," he said. "Since I was warming up the in the bullpen, it felt like I was going to have a good day. Everything was moving - the fastball was down in the zone, I had all the breaking balls I could throw in any count. Caleb (Joseph) called an unbelievable game and I was executing pitches."

Jimenez-Throws-Gray-Sidebar.jpgThe last time Jiménez went eight or more shutout innings was on Aug. 8, 2015 on the road against the Los Angeles Dodgers. He walked just one and fanned a season-high eight, throwing 98 pitches, 71 for strikes. Tonight, he was pitch efficient, needing just 27 pitches over the first three innings. He had six innings where he throw 13 or fewer pitches.

Had he pitched the ninth and finished the shutout, it would have been his 10th career complete game and fourth shutout. The O's last complete-game shutout was by Miguel González on Sept. 3, 2014 against Cincinnati.

Joseph caught that game and this one as well.

"I had Miguel when he threw a complete game, but I don't remember having as much fun," Joseph said. "Because of the imagination you see in your mind when a pitch is about to come and it actually comes to fruition every single time. ... Those are the type of games, as a catcher, you really take in. What you dream about when you are young - setting up and just hitting the glove. It makes you giddy out there when you have that type of performance. I'm so happy for him, really."

Brad Brach pitched the ninth and allowed a single. But he completed a three-hitter to record the Orioles' fifth shutout. Their two wins in this series came by 3-1 and 2-0 scores.

Manager Buck Showalter called for Brach with Jiménez at 98 pitches through eight innings.

"I thought the tougher decision was the eighth inning, especially when you have a guy who's doing a job like Brad, an All-Star pitcher," Showalter said. "He (Jiménez) did a good job for us. He emptied the tank for us in the eighth inning. He was facing his last hitter in the eighth inning."

Showalter felt this was the best he'd ever seen Jimenez pitch as an Oriole. And it followed that start where he gave up nine runs. How does he explain that?

"Billy Martin told me a long time ago. He said, 'Let's go out here and see what the boys have in store for us tonight.' I mean it's there. He's done it before," Showalter said. "A long time ago, a lot people considered him the best pitcher in baseball. He had a good rhythm and was repeating his delivery tonight and hitting his landing foot and his arm in the right spot. He was able to throw anything he wanted."

The Orioles won a series tonight, but emerged with two more injuries. Catcher Welington Castillo was a late scratch with a left knee sprain. And reliever Stefan Crichton is experiencing right shoulder soreness and will undergo an MRI on Friday. Castillo said he felt better after tonight's game and that he expects to play tomorrow night in Baltimore.

"He slipped right there on those slick stairs there," Showalter said of Castillo, injured in the final minutes before the first pitch. "He was going down to warm up Ubaldo. This place is (treacherous). ... It's like that in a lot of places. He sprained his knee and he'll see Dr. (Michael) Jacobs tomorrow along with Crichton, whose right shoulder is bothering him. I'm sure we'll have somebody there in case he's not ready to go. But we think, the initial thought is that we might be OK. We'll wait and see what happens tomorrow."

Castillo said he was initially hurting badly, but felt much better by the time the game ended.

"Oh, yeah. I'm going to stay positive," Castillo said. "I know it's not a big deal. I already iced it a couple times today. It was smart giving it (time) today just in case something happened out there. But I was available to play if something happened to Joseph."

The Orioles are back at .500 at 39-39. They are 9-3 against Toronto, 5-2 at Rogers Centre and 25-18 in American League East games. Now they head back to Baltimore to check on their latest injuries. But it should be a nice flight south after tonight's unlikely but dominant pitching performance by Jiménez.




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