Indians waste gem by Jimenez

Associated Press

CLEVELAND

After starting a benches-clearing incident, being suspended and filing an appeal, Ubaldo Jimenez ended his drama-filled week by erasing any doubts.

He was ready to open the season.

It’s his teammates who don’t look prepared.

In his first start since being suspended for throwing at Colorado’s Troy Tulowitzki, Jimenez flirted with perfection for six innings, held Toronto to one hit in seven and gave Cleveland a second strong start before the Indians lost to the Toronto Blue Jays 7-4 in 12 innings, the team’s second extra-inning defeat.

Jimenez, who was suspended five games for intentionally throwing at his former teammate, allowed one hit and two runs in seven innings. The right-hander walked three, struck out three and pitched like the ace the Indians thought they were getting when they traded several top prospects for him last July.

After a shaky spring that ended with Jimenez touching off the incident with the Rockies, the Indians didn’t know what to expect in the right-hander’s first outing.

With a nasty array of pitches, he made them feel much better.

“No one is saying every five days he’s going to pitch like that,” Indians manager Manny Acta said. “But he gave us some peace of mind today.”

Cleveland’s hitting, on the other hand, is a concern.

The Indians have 12 hits in 28 innings and are batting a collective .135 through two games. Newly acquired first baseman Casey Kotchman is 0 for 12 and has yet to hit the ball out of the infield.

“It’s the second game in a row our starting pitching has done a great job,” second baseman Jason Kipnis said. “We need to score more runs than that.”

Rajai Davis hit a two-run double in the 12th inning off Tony Sipp as Toronto rallied to beat Cleveland by the same 7-4 score the Blue Jays posted on Thursday when the teams made major league history by playing the longest opening-day game — a 16-inning marathon.

This one was four innings shorter, but again ended with Toronto on top.

“It’s definitely a grind, but winning makes it all worth it,” said Blue Jays third baseman Brett Lawrie, who had three hits and broke up Jimenez’s no-hit bid in the seventh with a two-run single.