The Padres opened up the series with a win in walkoff fashion last night. In game 2, Tyson Ross will try to follow Burch Smith's solid outing with one of his own and help San Diego secure their second straight series win. After a rough start to his season, Ross is making a home for himself in the Padres rotation. Since he rejoined the rotation a month and a half ago, he's had a strong eight-start stretch in which he's posted a 2.45 ERA while keeping opponents batting just .197 and striking out six or more batters in each outing. Ross has had four career outings (two starts) against the Rockies. Both starts took place back in April during his first stint in the rotation, prior to his injury and trip to the DL. He went 0-1 with a 4.82 ERA in those starts. His two relief appearances spanned 3 1/3 innings in which he gave up one run.
Despite some strong pitching, Ross has been a victim of a lack of run support. The Padres have scored only one run in each of his last four starts and have scored a total of just 14 runs in his eight starts since rejoining the rotation. His most recent start was one of the more frustrating, as he kept the Dodgers to just one run while striking out a career-high ten batters in five innings of work, but ended up with a no-decision as the Padres dropped the game 2-1.
As Ross hopes for better run support in tonight's matchup, Rockies starter Tyler Chatwood just hopes to get through the game in one piece. After spending a month on the DL with elbow inflammation, Chatwood returned on Sunday only to leave in the 3rd inning with a bruised right thumb. The right-hander is 1-0 with a 6.57 ERA all-time against San Diego.
See if the Padres can clinch the series tonight as they take the field at 5:40.