Give me a U! Give me two Ws! What's that spell?

This is how good Ubaldo Jimenez has been this season: he allowed two earned runs over eight innings today, and his ERA went up. He is 7-1, with a 1.12 ERA and a WHIP under 1.00, and looks practically unbeatable (yes, the keen-eyed readers will note that Ubaldo's record does include a loss, meaning that he is not, in fact, "unbeatable." However, in that loss he allowed one run on two hits... two frickin' hits, people! He didn't lose that one, his teammates failed to win it). For the last two seasons, the People Who Like To Get Carried Away With Things have been saying that Ubaldo is a potential Cy Young award winner. Today, those people look like they know what they're talking about.

And what do you know, the Rockies' bats woke up a little bit yesterday! 16 hits, four home runs, and ten runs scored in two games is a nice little sign of life... Brad Hawpe had a particularly nice day, with five hits (three of them doubles) in 7 AB. I won't forget Jason Hammel's efforts in the second game, limiting the dangerous Senators lineup to three runs over seven innings for his first win of the season after a couple weeks on the DL.

Jeff Francis, at long last, makes his return to the mound for the Rockies today, with the chance to either finish a Decent Homestand at 4-2, or a Dissapointing One at 3-3. Then, the Rockies head east to play three teams near the bottom of the standings: the Cubbies (15-22), Astros (13-23), and Royals (13-24)... teams who have combined to win nine of their past 30 games. An opportunity for the Rockies to make some noise on the road... but as an Eternal Beard from the Farthest Reaches of the Universe, I should know better than to look too far ahead. If the Rockies can take three of four from a Washington squad that's been playing very good baseball, they just might be on the move towards a nice little win streak.

-T.B.