Wrapping up a 3-2 victory

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Joe Ross knows he's immersed in a battle to be the Nationals' fifth starter. A few more outings like he had Monday in a 3-2 victory over the Marlins and the right-hander might just lock up the spot he covets.

Emilio Bonifacio played the hero's role, though it got a little sticky in the bottom of the ninth with the teams knotted at 2-2. Cody Wilson broke for home on what was supposed to be a safety squeeze with Bonifacio batting and was easily tagged out. But Bonifacio stepped back to the plate and delivered a walk-off single to score Brandon Snyder.

Ross spun three scoreless innings of one-hit ball, deftly working out of whatever trouble he put himself into and stretching his spring training scoreless streak to five innings. He walked one, struck out two and threw 26 of his 43 pitches for strikes.

"I felt good. Definitely an improvement, I think, from last outing," he said. "I had about 45-ish pitches or so. Felt good. Breaking stuff was better today, for sure. Happy with how that went."

How Ross commands his breaking pitches will go a long way toward whether he can be a successful starting pitcher. For years, managers have been trying to get him to employ a three-pitch mix, believing that a third pitch would give hitters just enough to think about to tip the balance toward the cerebral righty.

"We talked about him not relying on his fastball when he's behind in the count, about using his breaking ball," skipper Davey Martinez said. "It could be effective. He did it today - a few times. I know 2-0 he threw a breaking ball for a strike. If he starts doing that, I really believe he's going to help us out a lot."

Ross acknowledged he's gaining more confidence with his breaking stuff.

"I just overall felt a little more comfortable on the mound," he said. "First outing was good, but I felt like today just my execution on some pitches were better. I fell behind some batters in the second inning, but then got the double play ball and got out of some jams."

Right now, Ross is focusing less on the fifth-starter competition and more on the notion of improving every start.

"A hundred percent," he said. "We talk about it, just pitchers in general, controlling what you can control, stuff like that. That's always been my motto as far as spring training goes, is take care of the stuff I can do and obviously everything else is in their hands. State your case. Feel good right now and hopefully keep improving as camp goes on."

Martinez has noticed a change in Ross' demeanor, which he thinks has led to a change in his performance.

"I think right now he's in a good place," Martinez said. "I think last year was a real confidence boost that he was able to pitch in Game 5 of the World Series. Honestly, what the fans did for him was incredible and I think that helped him coming into spring training. Now he feels completely healthy and he looks like he pitched pre-Tommy John. That's kinda nice.

"Curveball was really good, threw some good sliders, but his fastball was really, really good. I just watched to where he was pre-surgery. I thought it was good. I talked to Paul (Menhart, pitching coach). We all thought he had a little bit of a shorter arm slot and I thought, 'Nope, let him be.' That's how he was when he was here before he got hurt. To me that means he's good and healthy."

Right-hander Daniel Hudson followed Ross to the mound, making his Grapefruit League debut with a fourth inning that saw him allow two runs on three hits with a strikeout. There was no recurrence of the right knee pain that had plagued Hudson during the stretch run and through the postseason.

"It was fine for the first one, to get into a game after a long layoff was exciting," said Hudson, who hadn't pitched since recording the last out of the World Series. "I wish the overall results were a little bit better, but for the most part you're looking for just coming out of these outings healthy and the ball feeling good coming out of your hand. So checked both those boxes and go get back up there in a couple days and try to do it again."

Martinez plans to rest Hudson for two days, have him pitch and then take a day off before his next outing. By the time spring training is over, the manager wants Hudson, closer Sean Doolittle and righty Will Harris to pitch in back-to-back games and get four outs in an outing.

"Fastball wasn't really where he wanted, but he threw a really good slider for a strikeout," Martinez said of Hudson. "Good. Said he was a little bit tired the last hitter, but that's to be expected. That's where we want him to be. Gotta fight through that and see where he's at. He pitches up in the zone for the most part anyway, but that last hitter, he threw two balls up that were supposed to be down."

Hudson came to camp this year having re-signed with the Nationals for two years and $11 million. This time last year, he was in spring training as a non-roster player with the Angels, trying to win a roster spot and extend his career. He wound up getting released near the end of camp before signing with the Blue Jays, who traded him to the Nationals at the non-waiver deadline.

"If I would have had that outing in my first one last year, probably be pretty down on myself," Hudson said. "Probably put myself behind the eight-ball a little bit. (I was a) non-roster invite, trying to make the team, you know? Still trying to go out there and put zeros up, no matter what. Not trying to be too complacent out there, even though everything's kinda set in stone with me, per se. It is a little bit easier to kinda have these outings and try to take the positives and move on from there.

"It's knowing that one pitch isn't going to knock me down a peg or two in the pecking order. Knowing that definitely puts your mind at ease a little bit. Like I said, if I'd have had this outing my first time last year, I'd have been pretty down on myself leaving the stadium. But ... it's just nice to have the comfortability that you can go out there, work on stuff and try to get ready for opening day."