Jul 2, 2014; San Diego, CA, USA; San Diego Padres starting pitcher Tyson Ross (38) reacts after getting shaving cream to the face by San Diego Padres first baseman Yonder Alonso (left) while getting interviewed by Fox Sports sideline reporter Kris Budden (right) after the Padres completed a three game sweep of the Cincinnati Reds with a complete game shutout from Ross at Petco Park. The Padres won 3-0. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports
Looking to complete a sweep of the visiting Reds, the Padres dominated Cincinnati on Wednesday as San Diego took home a 3-0 victory and the sweep. Tyson Ross excelled, allowing only three hits on the day while striking out nine batters in his first career complete game and shutout. The Padres offense, while not great, was good enough as the Friars pushed across all three of their runs on one hit.
Opening up against the Reds in the top of the first, Ross blew threw the first third of the lineup. Ross struck out leadoff man Billy Hamilton swinging on a slider and after inducing a fly out from Ramon Santiago, Ross struck out Todd Frazier swinging to end the inning. Facing Reds start Johnny Cueto, the Pads got on him quickly. Recently resigned outfielder Seth Smith popped out to lead off, but a pair of singles from Chris Denorfia and Chase Headley led to a Tommy Medica walk that loaded the bases. Will Venable flew out to right field, setting up a two-out at bat from catcher Rene Rivera. Rivera hit what Dick Enberg called a “dying quail,” a ball hit between the center fielder and right fielder that a diving Hamilton couldn’t catch. The ball bounced off of Hamilton’s glove and hit the grass, allowing all three of the runners to score.
With an early lead, Ross continued to mow down Reds hitters. Cincinnati’s first hit didn’t come until the fourth inning and their first real threat to score didn’t come until the eighth. A one out double from Brayan Pena put Ross in some hot water, but Ross worked a ground ball then got All-Star Joey Votto to fly out, ending the inning.
San Diego looked to add to their lead, but Cueto settled down and held the Padres at bay. In the bottom of the fourth, Irving Falu worked a walk, bringing up Seth Smith to the plate. Smith crushed a ball to the outfield for what was seemingly a run-scoring play as Falu ran around the bases on his way to touching home, but Falu overstepped the third base bag and the Reds threw the ball to third, completing the out. The Padres didn’t make any serious threats to score for the remainder of the game.
With three outs separating him from his first career shutout, Ross took the mound in the ninth. Facing the same batters he faced in the first inning, Ross got Hamilton to fly out then struck out Santiago. Finally, Ross completed the gem by working a Frazier groundout.
In the victory, Ross showed incredible efficiency. He threw 120 pitches with 87 strikes to get through 30 hitters, allowing three hits and no walks.
San Diego looks to continue their swing of momentum as they’ll take on the Giants at Petco on Friday night after a Thursday day off.