Major League Baseball

Nationals' Ross comes home to face A's (Jun 03, 2017)

Published Jun. 3, 2017 4:18 a.m. ET

share

facebookxredditlink

AP

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Washington Nationals right-hander Joe Ross will have a homecoming on Saturday afternoon at Oakland Coliseum when he faces the Oakland Athletics for the first time in his career.

Ross grew up in the Oakland hills, just a 10-minute drive from the Coliseum, where he watched his hometown team play countless times. Ross was a fan of the Athletics long before his older brother, Tyson, pitched for them from 2010 to 2012 and introduced him to a few teammates, including current Nationals pitcher Gio Gonzalez.

Ross went to Bishop O'Dowd High School in Oakland and pitched at the Coliseum one time for a few innings during a tournament.

"It's definitely not going to be the same," Ross said Friday of his first appearance at the Coliseum as a major leaguer. "But it's good to be back. I'm definitely excited. My family's going to be here. I have some friends here. I'm looking forward to it. I'll have a good game, hopefully.

"I don't know exactly what it's going to be like, but I think just being here and being in what I would almost consider my home baseball team's stadium, sure it will be fun. I'm looking forward to it. I don't personally know as many guys on the team as I did when Tyson played here, but there are still some familiar faces and just facing that green and gold is going to be pretty fun."

Ross has had mixed results in two starts since being recalled from Triple-A Syracuse. On May 23, he allowed one run and five hits in eight innings in a 10-1 win over Seattle with six strikeouts and no walks. Then on Sunday against San Diego, Ross gave up five runs and 12 hits in four innings of a 5-3 loss. He's 2-1 with a 6.18 ERA.

The Nationals opened the three-game interleague series with a 13-3 win over the A's, pounding out 20 hits with five homers. All that despite being without slugging right fielder Bryce Harper, who served the second game of a three-game suspension for fighting Giants reliever Hunter Strickland on Monday after being hit by a Strickland fastball.

Harper will serve the final game of his suspension Saturday and return to the lineup on Sunday against Oakland.

A's right-hander Daniel Mengden will try to bounce back after a rough outing against Cleveland in his 2017 major-league debut on Monday after being recalled from Triple-A Nashville. Mengden gave up five runs and seven hits in 3 1/3 innings of a 5-3 loss. He opened the season on the disabled list after undergoing surgery on his right foot during the offseason.

"Glad to be back in there," Mengden said. "The injury was a little hiccup. Got over it. I was throwing well in Nashville, waiting for my opportunity. Finally got it. It didn't go as well as planned. They have a really good offense. You just got to go in and execute. That was really the main problem. I threw some good pitches, but when it came down to it, fastball location wasn't very good.

"They hit the three solo homers. Solo homers usually don't hurt, but when you have three of them, those start adding up. Most of my pitches were good. Just my fastball was very erratic. Missing spots left and right."

Mengden said he had been bothered by turf toe or plantar fasciitis since his college career but continued pitching through pain. During a conditioning workout in the offseason, he broke a bone in his foot and opted for surgery.

"I feel really good," Mengden said. "The body feels good. Everything feels really good. I'm ready to get in there and get more action."

Mengden will face the Nationals for the first time in his career. He's 0-7 in eight career starts at the Coliseum and 0-7 in seven career starts during the day.

share

Get more from Major League Baseball Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more

in this topic

Major League Baseball