And with the exception of the great Dan Haren, the Snakes better get some consistent, professional pitching out of their hapless hurlers, or it's going to be a very long season.
Jackson blew so badly that it was painful to watch. By the time Diamondbacks manager A.J. Hinch pulled him from the game, he had given up nine runs on 11 hits to the Colorado Rockies -- and it was only the beginning of the third inning.
Before that stanza was over, Jackson's relief, Blaine Boyer, had walked three in a row. (See what we mean?!) Two more runs crossed the plate, with one assessed to Jackson because of a walk he gave up before getting the heave-ho, and the other to Boyer.
It was a career-worst game for Jackson (1-2 this season), though he gave up eight runs in an October 10 game last year when he was with Detroit (he went 13-9 and had a 3.62 ERA with the Tigers in 2009).
The only ray of hope for the D-Backs on this chilly night in Denver was, you guessed it, Justin Upton -- who hit an RBI single in the eighth inning to break the shutout.
There were many reasons to cheer last night if you're a Rockies fan -- but the stars of the game were Carols Gonzalez, who had five RBI (four in the first two innings), and Ubaldo Jimenez (5-0 this season, including an April 17 no-hitter), who gave up just two hits and a pair of walks in six innings on the mound.
Truth be told, we were so disgusted by the Arizona's lack of anything -- offense, pitching -- in this game (except for you, of course, Mr. Upton) that we missed the Rockies getting still another run. But they must have, because the final score was 12-1.
If you can stomach it after last night's beat-down, tune in today at 12:10 p.m. for the third and final game of this stand against Colorado (the D-Backs won 5-3, behind Haren, Monday night). Scheduled pitchers this afternoon are Kris Benson (1-1, 3:00 ERA) for Arizona and Greg Smith (1-2, 5:24 ERA) for Colorado. TV: Fox Sports AZ. Radio: KTAR 620 AM. For more information, go to www.diamondbacks.com.
