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Jackson's Gem Quickly Unravels As Toronto Rolls

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By MARC LANCASTER, The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 8, 2007

ST. PETERSBURG - For the better part of five innings Friday night, the Devil Rays' Edwin Jackson was right there with Toronto starter Dustin McGowan in the midst of a classic pitchers' duel.

Only McGowan was able to see it through to the end, putting together an uncanny impersonation of Blue Jays ace Roy Halladay as Toronto used two big innings to wrap up a 7-2 victory.

McGowan struck out 12 - five more than his previous career high - in a game Rays manager Joe Maddon called one of the best pitched against his team all season. Jackson was on his way to similar accolades through the first half of the game, not allowing a hit through 4 2/3 innings, but a three-run fifth and four-run sixth put the Rays away.

'When you're facing that kind of pitching performance, you just can't give up the runs like we did,' Maddon said.

Jackson's night unraveled quickly. Aside from a walk to the second batter he faced, Matt Stairs, the young right-hander had blazed through the Toronto lineup with no trouble. Everything changed in the fifth after another bad call by an umpire was corrected - even though the ultimate decision went in the Rays' favor.
Aaron Hill cranked a long drive down the left-field line with two out and nobody on that sailed to the outside of the foul pole with a few feet to spare. Third base umpire Dan Iassogna inexplicably signaled for a home run, and Maddon was out of the dugout to argue before Hill had even rounded the bases. The umpires conferred and quickly reversed the decision, but Hill eventually singled to start an unexpected rally.

Maddon termed ninth-place hitter John McDonald's single on a hanging slider by Jackson the turning point of the game. That hit brought home the first run of the evening and was followed by run-scoring hits off the bats of Vernon Wells and Stairs. Jackson didn't think the McDonald at-bat was that important - just one in a series of piecemeal hits that cost him three runs - but Maddon saw it as a case of needing to take advantage of the situation.

'In that crucial moment, you've got to bury that guy in that situation and then move along,' said the manager. 'But he will, as he gains more experience.'

The Blue Jays' scoring in the sixth inning was more emphatic, with Gregg Zaun bringing home three runs on a towering homer down the right-field line and another coming home after Jackson had been relieved by Scott Dohmann. The Rays got a couple back in the bottom half, but it was too far gone by then.

As if to emphasize that point, McGowan suddenly began mowing down everyone in sight, striking out five consecutive batters from the final out of the sixth through the first out of the eighth.

'He looked like a little Halladay today,' Carl Crawford said. 'He kept the ball down low, had a nice little tight slider and he made the pitches when he needed to. He pitched a good game.'

The only other event of note for the Rays came two outs away from the end of the game, when B.J. Upton fouled a ball straight down off the top of his left foot - just above the tongue of his shoe. He went to the turf and was tended to briefly by a trainer but was walking around fine after the game.

'It just didn't catch me in the shoe - it caught all ankle,' he said. 'It hurt for a little bit, until I actually stood up and walked around and it was OK.'

He said he would wear a shin guard to protect his foot today.

Reporter Marc Lancaster can be reached at (813) 259-7227 or mlancaster@tampatrib.com.

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