DETROIT _ Facing a former team is nothing new for Edwin Jackson, he's got plenty of them. But there was something special about this one.
Making his A's debut, Edwin Jackson became a part of baseball history by pitching for his 13th different major league team in Monday's 5-4 victory against one of his previous 12 teams in the Tigers, now sharing that unique distinction with former A's reliever Octavio Dotel.
Dotel and Jackson were teammates with the St. Louis Cardinals in 2011. The two also both played for the Tigers, Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago White Sox, Atlanta Braves at one point in their careers.
More important for the A's (41-38) than the significance of Jackson making the historic start was the result that was produced by it. Utilizing mostly just a fastball and slider, the right-hander kept the A's in the game as he allowed only one run on six hits and no walks, striking out seven batters over six innings of work before he was replaced by Ryan Buchter to begin the seventh.
Whether it be the A's or another team, Jackson does not appear to be anywhere close to the end of the line. At 34 and in his 16th big league season, Jackson was still pumping his fastball around 93-96 miles per hour throughout the day, looking like he could probably go past the 80 pitches he finished at.
Maybe it was seeing the Tigers (36-43) again. Jackson's most successful season came with Detroit back in 2009 when he was named an All-Star for the first and only time so far in his career, finishing 13-9 with a 3.62 ERA. His first big league start of the season also came eight years to the day he tossed a no-hitter as a member of the Arizona Diamondbacks, then his fourth different team played for, before getting traded to the Chicago White Sox a month later.
Though Jackson did not get the win, his strong start enabled the A's to eventually complete a late-inning comeback.
After trailing 4-1 following a three-run home run surrendered by Lou Trivino in the eighth, the A's wasted no time getting those three runs back in the eighth with a rally that was capped off by a booming double to left-center by Franklin Barreto that drove home Jonathan Lucroy all the way from first for the game-tying run. An inning later, Jed Lowrie gave the A's the lead with a solo shot to right off Shane Greene.
Blake Treinen came on in the ninth and pitched around a single to convert his 14th consecutive save opportunity and 18th save overall on the season.
