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 The right-hander pitched 6 2/3 scoreless innings, and the Padres
took advantage of a Texas miscue to beat the Rangers 2-1 Sunday.
San Diego hadn't won a series since taking two of three from the
Arizona Diamondbacks from June 26-28. The Padres wrapped up a 4-6
road trip with consecutive wins.
"Even in some of the losses, we had the right attitude and the right
demeanor," San Diego interim manager Pat Murphy said. "Things just
weren't going our way. We're a little more resilient. This whole
road trip we've been competitive every game. Ten hard games on the
road, and every one of them comes down the eighth or ninth inning."
Ross allowed just three hits and two walks while striking out six.
He didn't get much run support but got the momentum-changing run he
needed in the second inning on an odd triple by center fielder Will
Venable.
Venable hit a hard grounder that bounced off first baseman Mitch
Moreland's glove and into shallow right field. Right fielder
Shin-Soo Choo broke late for the ball.
By the time second baseman Rougned Odor got the ball in, Venable was
at third. Shortstop Will Middlebrooks followed with a run-scoring
fielder's choice grounder off Yovani Gallardo (7-8).
Choo said he should have charged the ball and made the play because
it is easier for the outfielder to get to the ball. That gaffe
didn't sit well with Texas manager Jeff Banister either.
"The play in right field that led to the first run was obviously
tough," Banister said. "It was tough to see and tough to be part of,
allow a runner to go all the way to third base on a ball that barely
gets to the outfield. Fundamentally our thought process is any time
a ball's in play we go hard, we go after the baseball. That should
be our mindset, and we didn't."
Venable, who has hits in his past three games, was just as surprised
as anyone he ended up at third.
"Once the ball got by Moreland and scooted into the outfield, I
thought I might have a chance to go to second," he said. "And when I
got closer to second, it didn't seem like anyone wanted to make a
play on the ball, and I knew if the second baseman fielded the ball,
there was no way he could turn and throw me out at third, so I tried
to be aggressive and it worked out."
San Diego second baseman Jedd Gyorko made it a 2-0 game with an RBI
single in the seventh inning.
That was all Ross needed. The Rangers didn't get a runner into
scoring position against him until the fourth inning, when Texas
left fielder Delino DeShields opened the inning with a double. He
stayed at second, though, as Ross retired the next three batters.
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The seventh-inning run proved to be huge as Texas made things
interesting in the ninth off Padres closer Craig Kimbrel. Odor's
two-out single to center cut the lead to 2-1 as third baseman Adrian
Beltre scored from second. Shortstop Elvis Andrus moved Odor to
second with a single, but Kimbrel ended the game by striking out
center fielder Leonys Martin for his 23rd save.
Gallardo allowed one run on six hits and walked four in his 5 2/3
innings.
"It was rough," Gallardo said. "To lose the last game of the first
half, I think it was tough. That's pretty much all I can say. I felt
better as the game went on. I was getting ahead of guys. It was just
a matter of putting guys away."
San Diego had eight hits, with right fielder Matt Kemp and catcher
Austin Hedges each collecting two.
NOTES: Texas OF Josh Hamilton was out of the lineup Sunday for a
regular day off. Hamilton went 2-for-16 while starting the previous
four games. He pinch-hit in the eighth inning Sunday and grounded
out. ... The Rangers haven't set their rotation for their return
from the All-Star break. Texas only has four starters on its
pitching staff and is waiting to see if rehabbing LHP Martin Perez
will be ready to join the rotation after the break. ... 1B Mitch
Moreland is the first Rangers player to have at least three
multi-homer games in a season since Josh Hamilton and Mike Napoli
each had three in 2012. ... San Diego's Will Middlebrooks started at
shortstop for the second consecutive day and for the third time in
his career. ... The home run hit by 3B Yangervis Solarte on Saturday
marked the first time a Padres player hit a game-winning homer while
the team was trailing with two outs in the ninth inning or later
since 2007, when both Scott Hairston and Brian Giles accomplished
the feat.
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