Ross shows no rust after layoff, carves up Cardinals

ST. LOUIS - He had thrown a grand total of two innings in the last 15 days. He hadn't pitched at all in 10 days. And he was facing one of the toughest lineups in baseball.

Potential recipe for disaster? Not for Joe Ross, who hadn't been fazed by any situation he'd faced so far in the major leagues and wasn't about to start now.

"Hey, man, there's nothing finer than a young pitcher that gets confidence and knows that he belongs here," Dusty Baker said. "And he certainly has confidence. He's not intimated by being in the big leagues."

Not in the least. With yet another strong performance this afternoon, Ross picked up right where he left off when a blister temporarily sidelined him, leading the Nationals to a 6-1 thumping of the Cardinals that ensured his team's first series victory at Busch Stadium since 2007 and put it in position to sweep a series in St. Louis for the first time ever.

Ross showed no ill effects at all of the blister on his right middle finger that cut short his most recent start after only two innings. The Nationals skipped his next turn around the rotation, so when he took the mound this afternoon, he was doing so for the first time since April 20.

Ross allowed a leadoff double to Jeremy Hazelbaker, but any concerns that may have started to crop up immediately disappeared when he proceeded to retire the next 11 Cardinals batters he faced.

"It felt normal," the right-hander said. "I felt good. I think my (velocity) was up a little bit. But I felt strong. There wasn't really an inning or two of trying to settle in. I felt good from the get-go. I think the time off paid off."

No matter what potential obstacles are thrown at him, it seems like Ross can do no wrong right now. Four starts into his season, he's 3-0 with an 0.79 ERA that would rank second in the National League if he qualified. (His current total of 22 2/3 innings pitched is a mere one-third of an inning shy of the minimum required to be included on league leaderboards.)

This really is just a continuation of what the Nationals saw from Ross last season when he became a surprise contributor to their rotation at 22 and without any Triple-A experience. He's now 8-5 with a 3.00 ERA and 1.08 WHIP in 20 career big league games. Eleven of his 17 starts have been quality starts.

Along the way, Ross has won over his teammates and coaches alike.

"He's young, but he competes and he wants it," said left fielder Jayson Werth, whose three-run homer in the top of the first gave Ross a 4-0 lead before he ever took the mound today. "He's got good stuff on top of it, so that obviously helps. But on his day, he's coming to get you. There's a lot to be said for that."

Ross has accomplished this not by overpowering opponents but by outpitching them. He relied mostly on his fastball and slider last season as a rookie but now has enough confidence in his changeup to use it extensively and even threw the first splitter of his career during today's game.

"Not being so much fastball-slider as last year, I think, has kind of helped out to go deeper in games, get early outs and get ground balls," he said.

Ross' ability to handle the bat hasn't hurt his cause, either. He's now 3-for-9 with a double and three walks this season, production that convinced Baker to let him bat for himself in the top of the seventh today, even though he wasn't going to re-take the mound in the bottom of the inning. (Ross wound up reaching on an error.)

"The fact that Joe can hit, that's why we let him hit in that inning," Baker said, "versus putting (Chris) Heisey or another pinch-hitter up there. Because then I'm out of right-handed pinch-hitters."

Ross appreciates the trust of his manager in that situation.

"It's kind of like this is my last chance to do something in the game, so try and make it count," he said. "It feels good that he has the confidence in us. And I think our starters as a whole have done a pretty good job offensively so far. Hopefully, we can keep that going. Having the ninth batter actually do something in the game helps out a lot."

Just another reason Ross has blossomed into one of the Nationals' great revelations, a 22-year-old who may technically be the fifth starter in his rotation but to date has outperformed everyone else.

"I'm impressed," Baker said. "I'm not surprised because I heard he had as good of stuff as anybody on the staff. I just hadn't seen it. I urged our organization to let us have a chance to see him, and (pitching coach) Mike Maddux to work with him. He's as good as reported."