Jared Jones and a Unique MLB Moment
Jared Jones discussed his night in Major League Baseball history recently, and, well, it didn’t quite go as he had hoped for. The 24-year-old pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates struck out the first 18 batters he faced. Yet, he was taken out of the game after six innings, aiming for that elusive perfect game.
There’s an interesting twist here. Jones has been managing his pitch count carefully—he hasn’t thrown over 81 pitches across eight starts since his return on May 20, following major surgery last season. On this night, he was pulled after just 77 pitches, which is a far cry from the 100 or so he would have needed to chase down the 25th perfect game in MLB history.
As he left the field, the Pirates were blanked, with the Atlanta Braves ultimately winning 3-0, pushing Jones into an unusual record—becoming the first pitcher in the modern era to throw at least six innings and not get a win.
“It sucks. Something special was happening, but at the same time, what does it matter? Am I just starting my eighth surgery?” he reflected with reporters after the game, clearly feeling the weight of the moment.
Jones also expressed the difficulty in aiming for perfection. “It’s not about the pitch count,” he noted. “Honestly, I never thought I’d be eight points now, so I didn’t even think about it.”
Meanwhile, Joey Bart, having swapped teams to the Braves earlier, played a pivotal role by hitting a two-run home run, contributing to the Braves’ late-game success. And on a side note, this kind of scenario is becoming a pattern; just the other day, Miami’s Yuri Perez also found himself in a similar situation—leaving after throwing six shutout innings.
The Pirates currently sit four games behind the final wild-card position held by the Marlins, a tight race that adds pressure but also excitement as the season continues.
