Phillies able to solve Jackson early in 5-4 win over Nats

Edwin Jackson did not receive a very kind birthday present from the Phillies on Saturday night.

They were able to see his pitches very well in a 5-4 setback.

The right-hander, now 34 years of age, allowed two early homers to Rhys Hoskins and Maikel Franco that set the tone. The Phillies added three more runs in the fourth.

The Nationals battled back from a 5-1 deficit to cut the lead to 5-4, thanks to a two-run shot and RBI single from Michael A. Taylor.

Even with the loss, the Nats' magic number dropped to two, as the Braves beat the Marlins 6-5.

Jackson allowed the solo shots in the second inning that gave the Phillies their first lead of the game.

"Second inning I pretty much got beat on a hanging slider and a fastball up in the zone on a 3-2 count," Jackson said. "This team, they can put the ball over the fence. They showed it all year. It's the big leagues."

He then allowed two singles in the third and got into more trouble in the fourth. The Phillies accumulated three hits and two walks against him before he was pulled with one out. Three runs came across in the inning and the Phillies' advantage was up to 5-1.

Manager Dusty Baker said maybe part of the problem was Jackson stayed in the strike zone too much. He went three up and three down in the first. But after that, Jackson allowed seven hits and five runs.

"You know, Jackson was really good in the beginning," Baker said. "He almost threw too many strikes and then later on got behind and threw more strikes, so it was a tough game to lose. But I liked the way our guys battled and battled. Especially our young players. Raudy (Read) called a good game, that was good, and hit the ball hard a couple times."

Read was making his first major league start behind the plate. Did Baker notice that was an issue for the battery in the game?

"They talked yesterday, but I could tell they weren't exactly on the same page because of the amount of time that Jackson was taking in between pitches," Baker said. "But Raudy, for his first game in the big leagues, he did a pretty good job."

Jackson said his chemistry with Read was good and was not an excuse for the loss.

"It's the game of baseball," Jackson said. "At the end of the day, anything that happens is never on the catcher. As the starting pitcher, we have the say so to what goes. Never go out and put the blame on a catcher because it could easily be vice versa and a different story. At the end of the day, I put the pressure on myself to go out and execute pitches, and I didn't do a great job of that tonight."

Jackson explained what happened in the game-changing fourth inning when the Phillies put together three hits and he walked two batters.

"Put myself in a situation in the fourth where get a man on, groundball single, walk, get a blooper and get the pitcher out, and we get another ground ball, tough play," he said. "But that's one of the things in baseball at the end of the day, I was still in a situation where I felt like I could make a pitch and get a ground ball and get a double play and able to get out of that inning and go deep.

"We fought. But I still feel like if I go out and do my job and I keep the game close that it's a different situation."

Jackson (5-5) said his aggressiveness works to his advantage when he can play with a lead. He wasn't able to do that Saturday.

"The biggest difference you see the games where I've been aggressive and the games I haven't been aggressive," Jackson said. "It's been night and day results. In the games you're ahead and you put the pressure on the hitter, you have much different results than when you are behind in the count and have to make pitches, and if you don't execute, that's what happens."

The Nats had less opportunities offensively because Mark Leiter Jr. (3-5) was good. Leiter and the Phillies bullpen combined for 14 strikeouts. The Nats struck out four times in a row twice in the game.

Taylor went 2-for-3 with a homer, a walk and three RBIs, and now has 16 homers. Howie Kendrick hit a solo homer in the first inning, his eighth of the season.

Despite the loss, Taylor appreciates what Jackson has done since his arrival with the Nats.

"To come in and do what he's done so far has been huge for us," Taylor said. "He kept the rotation together, gave us depth. Tonight wasn't his night, but we'll take him out there every night."