Chicago, IL (SportsNetwork.com) - Tyson Ross finished with a career-high 11
strikeouts to help the San Diego Padres in a 13-3 rout of the Chicago Cubs on
Thursday.
Ross (9-10) stifled the Cubs through six solid innings, yielding one run on
five hits and a walk. The 27-year-old right-hander received 11 total runs of
support in his previous five outings and has given up two or less earned runs
in seven straight starts.
Rene Rivera, Seth Smith and Will Venable each collected three hits, with
Rivera adding a home run and three RBI for San Diego, which has won four of
its last five.
Venable, Chris Nelson and Alexi Amarista knocked in two runs apiece.
"Guys are starting to climb with their averages which is good," said Padres
manager Bud Black. "Overall, a very good offensive night for all."
Starlin Castro, Luis Valbuena and Chris Coghlan each posted an RBI in the
setback, Chicago's seventh in its last eight games.
Edwin Jackson (5-11) was charged with five runs -- four earned -- on seven
hits over five-plus innings before leaving with cramps in his throwing hand.
"It seems that anything that could go wrong has gone wrong over the past
couple of weeks," Cubs manager Rick Renteria said.
Much like Wednesday's win, San Diego put up two in the first to grab an early
lead. Following two quick outs, Smith singled and Yasmani Grandal brought him
home with a triple to right. Grandal ripped the triple down the first-base
line and the ball got lodged under the wall in foul territory. Right fielder
Ryan Sweeney committed a miscue trying to dig the ball out from the padding,
allowing Grandal to race around to third instead of settling for a ground-rule
double. It wouldn't have mattered much, as Venable followed with a single to
center that staked the Padres to a 2-0 advantage.
Ross allowed just two baserunners and struck out six through the first three
innings, but Chicago got on the board in the fourth.
Singles from Anthony Rizzo and Castro put runners at first and third with no
outs. Coghlan went down swinging before Valbuena drove a single to right that
scored Rizzo. Sweeney then lined out and John Baker struck out to end the
inning.
Rivera quickly got the run back with a solo shot to begin the fifth inning and
help restore San Diego's two-run edge.
The Padres sent 15 men to the plate in the sixth, breaking the game open by
matching the highest-scoring inning in the league this season. Every player in
the lineup scored during the nine-run frame that helped the visitors to a 12-1
lead.
Grandal started things with a leadoff walk before Venable and Jake Goebbert
each singled to load the bases. Nelson reached on a throwing error by Valbuena
that pushed a run across, and Rivera followed with a two-run single.
Ross was hit by a pitch to load the bags again, then Amarista poked a base hit
into center that plated Nelson and Rivera for an 8-1 lead. Smith, Venable and
Nelson all added RBI knocks later in the frame to turn the game into a rout.
Castro and Coghlan provided RBI singles in the home eighth, and Yangervis
Solarte capped the scoring with a sacrifice fly in the ninth.
Game Notes
Toronto scored nine runs in the seventh inning of a 10-0 win over Philadelphia
on May 7 ... The 13 runs ties the club record for the most ever scored at
Wrigley Field ... Jackson is winless in his last six starts ... Chicago hasn't
won a series at home since taking two-of-three from Miami, June 6-8 ... The
Cubs continue their 10-game homestand with a three-game set against St. Louis
on Friday ... San Diego concludes its seven-game road trip with a four-game,
wraparound series in Atlanta.