Edwin Jackson had a rough day on the mound in Toronto. The 35-year-old journeyman, now on his 14th MLB team, came in after an opener was used to shield him from the top of the lineup. But it didn’t help. Justin Upton, playing in his first game back from injury, crushed the first pitch he saw for a solo homer. Then Kole Calhoun followed with another shot to right. Jackson joked about retiring right then and there.
The inning spiraled from there. Jackson struggled to find the zone and kept falling behind hitters. Though he got one out thanks to Vladimir Guerrero Jr., the rest of the inning was a disaster. He walked in a run and loaded the bases for Mike Trout, who launched a deep drive into center. Moments later, Shohei Ohtani crushed an off-speed pitch over the wall. By now, Jackson looked completely defeated. He tried to get through the inning, grinding through long at-bats. But Upton came up again and wore him out with a long sequence of foul balls before blooping one in for yet another hit.
At that point, Toronto had seen enough. Montoyo came out of the dugout, and Jackson left the mound looking like a man who might be done with baseball. It was a brutal outing, filled with missed spots, long at-bats, and loud contact. After giving up six runs, the only thing left was the question of how much longer he’ll stay in the league.