Rapid Reaction: Washington Nationals Win In Milwaukee And It Felt Great

Jun 6, 2015; Washington, DC, USA; Washington Nationals starting pitcher Joe Ross (41) throws to the Chicago Cubs during the fifth inning at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports

Joe Ross To The Rescue

Rookie pitcher Joe Ross was called on to start today for his second big league start. His first start against the Cubs went fairly well for a player that had never played above double-A. In that outing, he gave up three runs on six hits and walked no one in five innings of work. His control was good and he showed a tendency to attack hitters rather than nibble and try to be too fine.

Ross showed during today’s start that his tendency to attack hitters is for real. Ross was all about strike one and getting ahead of hitters. His control was good as he did not walk a batter until he gave Adam Lind a free pass with two outs in the eighth inning. He hit the corners with his fastball and did not leave many fat pitches over the heart of the plate.

His poise was good. If a hitter got on base, he just went after the next batter. He did not appear to panic or lose his control because there was a runner on. The Brewers scored their two runs in the bottom of the second on a RBI single by Jean Segura and RBI double by Scooter Gennett. But that was all the scoring Ross would allow.

Even when the Nats increased the lead for Ross inning-by-inning as the game went on, he did not relax or change the way he was pitching. He kept doing what had been working. He went four times through the Brewers order and they had more trouble getting to him as the game progressed.

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