Edwin Jackson mowed down New York Mets hitters like they weren’t even there on Saturday night. Eleven times he struck one out and nine times it was with a swing-and-a-miss. Jackson’s slider was as sharp as it’s been all season and was responsible for six of those strikeouts. His cut fastball consistently missed bats and fooled another five. The only two called strikeouts of the game came on that pitch.
And yet, at the end of the day, Jackson was trying to explain how he finished a 2-0 loser despite allowing just two hits in seven innings, walking one batter and having another reach on an Ian Desmond error. What happened? Just one mistake on a fastball to Ike Davis in the seventh inning after walking David Wright the batter before.
“He was fun watching,” Nats manager Davey Johnson said. “I don’t know how many Ks he had. But he had a lot. 11? His stuff was so electric that he was over-matching them.”
But that wasn’t quite enough as Jon Niese matched him pitch-for-pitch and held the Nats scoreless through 7 1/3 innings. The Mets bullpen – yes, their bullpen – did the rest.
“Tonight Niese was the better pitcher. He held us scoreless and their bullpen did the same,” Jackson said. “I gave up two runs and we lost. That pretty much summed it up. It was a battle and we continued to fight. We hit balls hard. They just didn’t fall.”
Follow me on Twitter @bmcnally14
Next Story
