ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Edwin Jackson was so wild early there was no reason to think he would even finish the game, forget throw a nohitter.
Jackson made it happen, throwing 149 pitches - the most in the majors in five years - leading the Arizona Diamondbacks to a 1-0 victory Friday night over his former team, the Tampa Bay Rays.
“It’s one of those moments where you’re just caught up in the moment. It’s one of the craziest games I’ve had, especially the game starting off how it did. Not being able to find the strike zone with the fastball,” Jackson said. “Good thing I could throw the slider for strikes in any count. It just resurrected my game.”
Jackson (5-6) walked eight, all but one in the first three innings.
Jackson improved to 43-45 in eight seasons. He was an All-Star last year for the Detroit Tigers before being traded to Arizona in the off-season.
“It was definitely a great feeling, especially after those first few innings. ... After the fifth I looked up and said ‘Wow, there’s no hits,’ ” Jackson said.
“It’s one of those bittersweet moments. You throw a no-hitter and it’s against your old team. At least it’s with a crowd that you’ve had accomplishment with and you can do it in front of someone who will appreciate it.”
Randy Johnson has the only other no-hitter in Arizona history, a perfect game at Atlanta on May 18, 2004.
Adam LaRoche hit a home run with one out in the second, all the support Jackson would need.
Jackson walked the bases loaded in the third but was bailed out by third baseman Mark Reynolds, who spun around to throw out Ben Zobrist at home plate. Hank Blalock then grounded out to end the inning.
Reynolds made another big play on a sharp line drive by Bartlett in the seventh. Earlier in the at-bat, Bartlett hit a dribbler that hung close to the third base line before rolling foul in front of the bag.
ROYALS 4, CARDINALS 2
Zack Greinke (3-8) gave up 7 hits and 2 runs (1 earned), walked 2 and struck out 6 in 8-plus innings as Kansas City ended St. Louis’ five-game winning streak in Kauffman Stadium.
REDS 10, INDIANS 3
Drew Stubbs hit a two-run home run and a two-run single as host Cincinnati handed Cleveland its sixth consecutive loss.
BREWERS 8, MARINERS 3
Rookie catcher Jonathan Lucroy hit his first major league home run, a three-run shot, as host Milwaukee beat Seattle for its fifth consecutive victory.
ASTROS 7, RANGERS 4
Geoff Blum had the go-ahead RBI double among his three hits and scored twice as Houston ended host Texas’ 11-game winning streak.
PHILLIES 9, BLUE JAYS 0
Roy Halladay (9-6) pitched seven scoreless innings and allowed six hits to end a personal three-game losing streak in his first start against his former team as Philadelphia beat Toronto in a road game at its ballpark. The series was moved from Toronto to Philadelphia because of the G20 Summit.
BRAVES 3, TIGERS 1
Billy Wagner earned his 400th career save, 15th this season, as host Atlanta beat Detroit to end a three-game losing streak.
METS 5, TWINS 2
David Wright had a home run and two RBI as host New York beat Minnesota.
ORIOLES 7, NATIONALS 6
Pinch runner Jake Fox scored the winning run in the ninth on a throwing error by second baseman Cristian Guzman on a potential double play as host Baltimore overcame a 6-0 deficit to beat Washington.
National League PADRES 3, MARLINS 0 Will Venable’s tworun home run in the seventh broke a scoreless tie as San Diego beat host Florida.
Friday’s games INTERLEAGUE Chicago White Sox 6, Chicago Cubs 0 Philadelphia 9, Toronto 0 Baltimore 7, Washington 6 Arizona 1, Tampa Bay 0 Cincinnati 10, Cleveland 3 NY Mets 5, Minnesota 2 Atlanta 3, Detroit 1 Houston 7, Texas 4 Milwaukee 8, Seattle 3 Kansas City 4, St. Louis 2 Colorado at LA Angels, (n) Pittsburgh at Oakland, (n) NY Yankees at LA Dodgers, (n) Boston at San Francisco, (n) NATIONAL LEAGUE San Diego 3, Florida 0
Sports, Pages 24 on 06/26/2010