Regained confidence with the slider pays dividends for Jones

Jones did struggle with his slider a bit in a 23-pitch fifth inning before having a conversation with Yasmani Grandal during the next half inning. Grandal spoke with Jones, who was sitting at 81 pitches through five, about his location and, when heading back out for the sixth, the young pitcher had that in mind. He finished off his strong outing by once again leaning on the slider to produce a 10-pitch sixth that included strikeouts of Michael Busch and Nick Madrigal. 

"This kid's a good pitcher because honestly, there were times tonight where he didn't have the elite fastball command," Derek Shelton said. "The thing that I think was most impressive was in the fifth, the slider was not the slider we've seen. And Yaz had a really good conversation with him between the fifth and sixth about his slider, and he went and executed his slider in the sixth as well as he had all game." 

Jones said he had to go back to the drawing board in order to regain confidence in his slider after his last start when the results weren't quite there. He watched film, compared that outing to those of the past and made sure he was replicating the things that made him successful when throwing in between starts. 

That extra work paid off, as it ensured that brief lack of confidence didn't leak into another start. 

"When we locate it exactly where we want it, obviously, any pitch is effective. But his slider when it's going, it bottoms out. It kind of looks like a fastball. It's pretty hard to hit. When it stays up, it kind of acts like a cutter. It's pick your poison to see which one you want to hit," Grandal said. "They've got to respect his fastball. He's got a great fastball, so the fact that he does, it just makes that slider better."

Jones pounded the strike zone throughout the night, which allowed him to avoid three-ball counts and ultimately keep opposing hitters off the bases via free passes. Jones, who now has 63 strikeouts and just seven walks in 53 innings this season, made guys earn their way aboard. And, in some cases on this night, they did. 

Jones gave up a solo home run to Ian Happ in the second inning, surrendered an RBI single to Madrigal in the fourth and an RBI double to Cody Bellinger in the fifth. In all three occasions, there was room for things to spiral. Jones didn't let it happen. 

“Just pounding the strike zone," Jones said. "That’s been a key for me this year. Getting after it the way I have been, it’s a good key for success.” 

Through the first nine starts of his big-league career, Jones now owns a 2.89 ERA and a 0.91 WHIP. He's limited opposing hitters to a .208 batting average and hasn't allowed more than three runs in any of his starts. That's a model of consistency right there. 

And on this particular night, facing a familiar major-league opponent for the first time in his career, Jones' consistent ways continued. He benefitted from the heightened confidence in a key pitch and did exactly what he needed to do to finish off six innings and give his team a chance to win.

“I was fired up to go back out there for the sixth and throw up a shutdown zero," Jones said. "They’re a good team and I’ve pitched twice against them in two starts. That stuff’s not easy, but I was super pumped to keep us in it and super pumped to get us in line for the win.”