Ubaldo Jimenez Named Pitcher of the Month

Bobby Valentine was in Japan too long.

Less than a week ago the Baseball Tonight analyst declared if the Cy Young had to be given out after a single month, the only two National League pitchers in the competition were the Mets Mike Pelfrey and the Phillies Roy Halladay.

Good thing Valentine's vote didn't count.

On Monday, the league announced that Ubaldo Jimenez was the N.L. Pitcher of the month in April. The award came as a surprise only to Valentine.

When the month ended, the Dominican had nothing less than a 5-0 record, which included the Rockies first ever no-hitter, a 0.78 ERA, all while riding a club record 22-1/3 consecutive shutout inning streak.

This is only the second time that a Rockies pitcher has come away with the award; Colorado native Shawn Chacon received the award after a strong April in 2003.

Jimenez had an April that will be forever remembered by the Rockies and their fans.  The right-hander gets his first chance to make a May to remember with a start in San Diego tonight.

Jimenez is one of the biggest reasons why the Rockies had a decent April. Overall, the team finished a game under .500, not particularly a great start, but based on the April records that the team has posted over the last three years, a game below .500 is the equivalent of David defeating Goliath.

The Rockies look to build on their Sunday win with a game against the surprising San Diego Padres at Petco Park. First pitch is 8:05 local time.

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