Jackson throws a whopping 149 pitches -- the most in the majors in five years -- to lead the Arizona Diamondbacks to a 1-0 victory over his former team, the Tampa Bay Rays.
View full sizeArizona pitcher Edwin Jackson celebrates with teammates after throwing a no-hitter against the Tampa Bay Rays on Friday in St. Petersburg, Fla., the fourth no-hitter in the majors this season. Fred Goodall / Associated Press
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Edwin Jackson was so wild early there was no reason to think he would even finish the game, forget throw the fourth no-hitter of the season.
This being the Year of the Pitcher, though, anything was possible.
Jackson made it happen, all right, throwing a whopping 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 walked eight, all but one in the first three innings, but the Rays still were no-hit for the third time since last July, including Dallas Braden's perfect game at Oakland on May 9.
Colorado's Ubaldo Jimenez no-hit Atlanta on April 17 and Philadelphia's Roy Halladay tossed a perfect game at Florida on May 29. Armando Galarraga lost his perfect game with two outs in the ninth on a blown call by umpire Jim Joyce.
Jason Bartlett grounded to shortstop Stephen Drew for the final out and Jackson's teammates mobbed him on the field after the improbable feat. Jackson improved his career record to 43-45 in eight seasons. He was an All-Star last year for Detroit before being traded to Arizona in the offseason in a three-team trade with the Yankees that included Curtis Granderson.
Jackson was hit with a pie in the face by a teammate as he was doing an on-field interview.
"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," Jackson added. "At least it's with a crowd that you've had accomplishment with and you can do in front of someone who will appreciate it."
The crowd of 18,918 stood and applauded the first no-hitter at Tropicana Field in the relatively short history of the Rays, who like the Diamondbacks began play in 1998.
Randy Johnson has the only other no-hitter in Arizona history, a perfect game at Atlanta on May 18, 2004.
Adam LaRoche homered off Jeff Niemann (6-2) with one out in the second, all the support Jackson would need.
"He's a great athlete and a great kid. He's one of the very few who can do that," Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon said, noting Jackson's ability to continue to pitch well despite a high pitch count.
"He threw 150 pitches and it's rare to see that many walks and not score a run," Maddon added. "Our guys are just pressing too hard."
Jackson (5-6) walked the bases loaded in the third but was bailed out by a stellar play 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.
In the eighth, Miguel Montero threw out pinch-runner Carl Crawford trying to steal second after Carlos Pena reached on an error by Drew.
Jackson was so wild and the pitch count unusually high that the Diamondbacks had relievers warming up from the sixth inning on.
"All's well that ends well. We stopped counting at about 115," Diamondbacks manager A.J. Hinch said. "You do want to make smart decisions. You do have a chance at history and you don't want to take it away from him."
No one has thrown that many pitches in a nine-inning game since June 3, 2005, when Washington's Livan Hernandez threw 150 against the Marlins.
Jackson pitched for the Rays from 2006-08. His only other shutout in 126 career starts came for Tampa Bay in 2007.
"To be able to come back and give the crowd I used to play for something to see. Today is just a special day. Something I'll never forget," Jackson said.
Jackson's eight walks were a career high -- he struck out six. In 2001, A.J. Burnett walked a record nine in a no-hitter for Florida against San Diego.
In the ninth, Jackson struck out B.J. Upton on three pitches. Blalock flied to left before Jackson got the final out for his 149th pitch.
Niemann struck out eight and walked two in 7 1-3 innings.
The performance by Jackson, who helped Tampa Bay make an improbable run to the World Series two years ago, overshadowed the first meeting between brothers B.J. and Justin Upton, who despite being relatively close in age had never competed with or against each other at any level before Friday.
The Uptons are one of nine sets of brothers who have played in the majors this season. About 65 relatives and friends are in town for the series, and mother, Yvonne, wore a jersey bearing the names and numbers of both above the notation: "my sons."
Hinch joked with Justin before the game that he was tempted to post a mock lineup that didn't include the right fielder.
"I said, 'would have you been in here'" to protest, "and he said: 'My mother would have been in here.'"