Washington Nationals pitcher Joe Ross was well on his way to his fourth consecutive win in as many starts, when his not was abruptly ended after taking a comebacker to his right leg. Ross was immediately attended to by the Nationals trainer and manager Davey Martinez.
Ross left the game in the fourth inning up 11-0 against the Pittsburgh Piratees, as the Nationals put on another offensive barrage, hammering three home runs and scoring 11 runs in their first four frames of the game.
Ross started the season in the Nationals bullpen as he continued to work his way back from Tommy John Surgery from 2017. He struggled and was optioned to Triple-A Fresno in June after posting an 11.05 ERA out of the pen. However, Ross was given another go in July in large due to the back issues of Max Scherzer.
Ross got moved into the starting rotation and never looked back. In four starts prior to Monday’s game, Ross had allowed four runs in 23 1/3 innings. That included an impressive 17 1/3 scoreless streak.
Ross lasted 3 1/3 innings against the Pirates allowing three hits while striking out two on 58 pitches.
Joe Ross has been a huge plus while Scherzer has been out on the injured list. And was stating his case to be part of the Nationals reliable arms going into last two months of the season, as Washington pushes to stay atop the NL Wild Card race. Now, he and the club will have their fingers crossed that he escaped serious injury from that comebacker.
