Davis’ homer only mistake in loss to Mets
Edwin Jackson slumped at the base of the mound in dejection as New York Mets first baseman Ike Davis circled the bases around him.
For six innings Jackson had dominated Saturday night’s game at Nationals Park. His slider was biting, and his cut fastball was moving. At one point he had struck out nine of 15 batters. But those good deeds all came undone in just two batters. Star third baseman David Wright drew a walk to lead off the seventh inning for New York, and Davis then deposited a fastball into the left-field stands for the decisive two-run home run in a 2-0 Mets win.
Jackson calmly retired the next three batters, but then screamed into his glove as he left the mound, his night finished. It was a brilliant performance, maybe his best of the season. But with New York starter Jon Niese (10-6, 3.49 ERA) every bit his equal, Jackson had good reason to believe the game had been lost then and there.
“At the end of the day, the result’s not what we wanted,” Jackson said. “It pretty much doesn’t matter. It’s good to come out and pitch good, but the objective is for the team to win the game.”
Niese pitched into the eighth inning and did not allow a run. He gave up five hits and didn’t walk a batter. Seven Nats hitters struck out against him. And in the end the maligned New York bullpen for once held together with 12Ú3 scoreless innings to secure the win for Niese.
“We were hoping to get Niese out of there and get into that bullpen,” Washington first baseman Adam LaRoche said. “That’s the goal in the beginning. But when you get a guy rolling like that it’s tough. You just try to break up his rhythm, get a hit here and there. We had a couple of chances to score but not many overall. We were pretty much shut down all night and so were they.”
The Nats (74-46) did not lose any ground in the National League East race because second-place Atlanta (70-50) dropped its game to the Dodgers. That leaves the two clubs still separated by four games with a critical three-game set between them looming Monday in the District.
If you want one reason the Nationals remain confident they can win a World Series title even without ace Stephen Strasburg, it was on display Saturday even if Jackson’s effort fell short. Washington’s erstwhile No. 4 starter — and by performance this season arguably its fifth best pitcher — struck out a season-high 11 batters, walked just Wright and gave up two hits. New York managed just four base runners all game.
No one can replace Strasburg, but the Nats have the pitching depth to give themselves a chance. Jackson pitched in four playoff games for the World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals last October.
“The other four guys that have been here — [John] Lannan’s come up and thrown a couple good games, [Chien-Ming Wang] is getting healthy — we have a lot of guys,” third baseman Ryan Zimmerman said. “Obviously, you can’t really compare anyone to someone like [Strasburg]. But this is a team that has persevered injuries all year long, and that will be no different.”
