Ross leads Nationals over Padres
SAN DIEGO -- Former San Diego first-round draft pick Joe Ross held the Padres to three runs over six innings and Daniel Murphy and Ryan Zimmerman each homered Friday to lead the Washington Nationals to a 7-5 victory at Petco Park.
The Nationals' wins in the first two games of the series gave them three straight wins and 10 wins in their last 12 games. The Padres have lost six of their last seven games.
Ross went from the Padres to Washington with shortstop Trea Turner -- another former first-round Padres draft pick -- on Dec. 18, 2014, in a three-team trade that brought first baseman Wil Myers to San Diego.
The right-hander allowed six hits and two walks with six strikeouts to improve to 6-4 in his first career start at Petco Park.
Right-hander Yusmeiro Petit got the save.
Offensively, Murphy drove in three runs with a double and his 12th homer while Zimmerman drove in two runs with his 10th homer to cap a four-run third inning that put the Nationals ahead to stay.
Both homers came off Padres left-handed starter Christian Friedrich, who allowed six runs on nine hits and three strikeouts in the worst of his seven starts for the Padres. He fell to 3-2 with the loss.
For the second straight night, the Padres struck first. And for the second straight night, the Nationals tied the score and then broke it open with a multi-run inning.
Jon Jay opened the bottom of the first with a double off the wall in center. It was the center fielder's National League-leading 23rd double of the season and 11th in his last 21 games. Jay moved to third on a Wil Myers groundout to the right side and scored on Matt Kemp's single to center.
After scoring only 14 first-inning runs in the first two months of the season, the Padres scored 22 first-inning runs in the first 16 games of June.
Friedrich started the game by retiring the first four hitters he faced before walking Ryan Zimmerman, who advanced to third on a single by Wilson Ramos and scored on a sacrifice fly to center by Anthony Rendon.
The Nationals followed with a four-run third capped by Zimmerman's two-run homer. And for the second straight game, the Nationals' decisive rally started with two outs.
Jayson Werth and Bryce Harper hit back-to-back, two-run singles and scored on a two-run double to right center by Daniel Murphy. Zimmerman followed with his 10th homer of the season.
The Padres cut the deficit to three in the bottom of the fifth when Alexei Ramirez singled, moved to second on a fielder's choice and scored on Jay's single.
The teams exchanged homers in the sixth. Washington stretched its lead to 6-2 on Murphy's 378-foot homer to left leading off the inning. Derek Norris homered off Ross in the bottom of the inning to make it 6-3.
But the Nationals scored again in the top of the seventh, marking the sixth time in two games that Washington scored in the top of an inning after the Padres scored.
Michael Taylor singled, stole second and scored when Harper rocketed a single through a drawn-in infield.
NOTES: With a left-hander starting for the Padres, Nationals CF Ben Revere got the night off. 1B Ryan Zimmerman and 2B Daniel Murphy were back in the starting lineup after getting Thursday night off. ... The Padres released RHP Fabio Castillo from Triple-A El Paso after signing RHP Edwin Jackson to a minor league contract. ... Padres 1B Wil Myers has eight home runs in the first 15 games of June. The club record for homers in June is 10.