Tyson Ross’ Pitching, Offense Not Enough as Padres Fall 2-1

Jun 27, 2014; San Diego, CA, USA; San Diego Padres starting pitcher Tyson Ross (38) pitches against the Arizona Diamondbacks during the first inning at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

It was the third inning. Tyson Ross was tired of waiting for the offense to get a hit. It had been 12 innings.  So he dropped down a bunt for a single.

In the fifth inning, Ross was tired of waiting for his offense to score a run. It had been 28.2 innings since the San Diego Padres had scored a run with Ross in the game. And it had been 14.2 innings since they had scored a run at all. So he drove in a run with a sac fly.

Manager Bud Black took Ross out of the game before his third at-bat.  That may have been the wrong decision.

Ross pitched a fine game, too.  Not his best, but very solid.  7 IP, 5 hits, one walk, 7 Ks.  But he allowed two runs.

The rest of the offense has now gone 31 innings without scoring while Ross is pitching.  The Arizona Diamondbacks defeated the Padres 2-1.

Ross’ record fell to 6-8.

Playing the part of Cy Young in this game was Arizona’s Brandon McCarthy, who came into the game with a 1-10 record and an ERA of 5.38.  The Padres hit a few balls hard, and managed six hits in 7 innings, including back-to-back hits twice in the game. Chase Headley, the future Toronto Blue Jay, had a single and a double. After his fifth inning single, Cameron Maybin‘s aggressive base running on Alexi Amarista‘s base hit left Padres on second and third, which led to Ross’ RBI.  But that was all they could muster off of McCarthy, whose team has gone 3-14 in his starts this year.  The three wins have all come against the Padres.

The Diamondbacks scored their two runs in the fourth inning on a leadoff walk by Paul Goldschmidt, a Miguel Montero single, a wild pitch, and a 2-run single by David Peralta.  That’s all it takes to lose a game when the offense can’t score.

Black should have kept Ross in the game. For his offense.

Box Score