Ross mixes pitches effectively in four scoreless frames

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Joe Ross ended his strongest start of spring training with a flourish, retiring the final eight hitters he saw during a scoreless four-inning outing.

"I felt good. I felt like my mechanics were a lot better this outing than last one," Ross said. "My command seemed a lot better, too. I got a little tired towards the end, but other than that, I was real happy with how it went."

The right-hander allowed two hits, walked one and struck out four. He threw 60 pitches, 36 for strikes.

Only one runner reached second base. Brian McCann walked to lead off the first and went to second on Tyler White's one-out single. But Ross fanned Tony Kemp and got Jake Marisnick to fly to right.

"(Delivery) just felt more comfortable, more clean, like I could repeat it easily," Ross said. "Not have to think about it so much. When you can focus on actually trying to execute the pitch and not where your leg is and whatnot, it seemed a lot better, a lot cleaner today."

Before the game, manager Dusty Baker endorsed Ross' attempt to add an effective changeup to his repertoire. Ross thinks having a third pitch will allow him to go deeper into games. In the past, he's struggled in his third time through a lineup.

"That's big, especially against left-handers," Baker said. "If they hit pretty good and if they stack the lineup. To have a third pitch, I've seen a third pitch turn a .500 pitcher into a 20-game winner. If you have two pitchers and one's not working, then you turn into a one-pitch pitcher."

Ross mixed in the changeup with his four-seam and two-seam fastballs, the variety of pitches working to his advantage.

"I'd say a handful" Ross said when asked about the four-seamer. "I threw a lot of two-seams, but I tried to get some four-seams in, too, especially early. I would say the first, second inning, for sure."

Of the changeup, Ross said: "I threw a good amount today. I would say better earlier. I bounced a few in the fourth inning, I think. But it's feeling better and I'm feeling a little bit more comfortable with it."