ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - After the television cameras had left, upon wiping the celebratory shaving-cream pie off his head and changing his beer-soaked shirt, Edwin Jackson sat alone, and it still hadn't sunk in.
"I can't believe I just threw a no-hitter," he said.
In one of the strangest and wildest no-hitters you will ever see, Jackson held the Tampa Bay Rays hitless over nine grueling innings, and pitched the Diamondbacks to an improbable 1-0 victory before 18,918 at Tropicana Field.
He did it despite throwing a career-high 149 pitches.
He did it despite walking a season-high eight batters. Yes, eight. And seven of those came in the first three innings.
He walked the first three batters he faced in the third inning, and yet somehow, some way, managed to retire the rest of the side to escape not only getting pulled, but preserving what no one could have thought was going to be a no-hitter.
People are also reading…
Manager A.J. Hinch summoned a reliever to start warming up four times. But Jackson was able to make them all sit down while slowly regaining his control and effectiveness.
"I'm sure if I had given up a hit there in the third, I would have been out," Jackson said. "But I didn't, and when my pitch count started getting up there, I just said, 'I'm not coming out until I give up a hit or a home run.' "
It was somewhere around the sixth inning, Hinch said, when he began talking with his pitcher and checking how he felt. This wasn't just a one-run ballgame, but there was Jackson's health to consider.
"He kept saying, 'I'm fine. I'm not coming out. I'm not coming out. I'm not coming out,' " Hinch said. "You do want to make smart decisions, but you do have a chance at history and you don't want to take it away from him.
"And that's for everybody involved, from the team, to the fans, to anybody that was included in this game. It was the most bizarre no-hitter you'll ever be around."
It was just the second no-hitter by a Diamondbacks pitcher, and the first by Jackson, he said, at any level. Randy Johnson threw a perfect game against the Braves in Atlanta in 2004.
Jackson became just the fourth pitcher in history to throw a no-hitter and walk eight or more, in addition to hitting a batter.
"He worked his (butt) off tonight," said catcher Miguel Montero, who got Jackson to use his slider and change-up to offset a nonproductive fastball.
The only offense Jackson needed turned out to be a solo home run by Adam LaRoche in the second inning off Jeff Niemann.
"Amazing," LaRoche said of Jackson's performance. "Edwin just fought and kept battling back, and I don't know how he did it, but it was pretty remarkable."
It was even more than that, said Rays manager Joe Maddon, whose team has been a no-hit victim three times since last July.
"He throws 68 pitches after just three innings and settles in and pitches like he did?" Maddon said. "You've got to give him a lot of credit. He's a horse and a great athlete. He's a great kid and he deserved to do that tonight. Hats off to him. He's a wonderful man."
TODAY
• What: D-backs at Rays
• When: 1:05 p.m.
• TV: FSAZ • Radio: 1490-AM
