SAN FRANCISCO --
Each of those outings came before Ross required Tommy John surgery in 2017, and he has been trying to find himself ever since. His past two outings during this road trip could be reasons for optimism from the Nats.\n\nDespite issuing five walks his last time out against the D-backs, Ross also did not allow a run and held Arizona to one hit in 5 1/3 innings. On the road trip, he totaled 11 1/3 scoreless innings with eight strikeouts and seven walks, thanks to some tweaks to his pitch mix and mechanics urged by the Nationals.\n\n“It just shows that the adjustments I guess I’ve made the last couple days or last couple weeks have been working in game situations,” Ross said. “So that's more of a confidence booster than anything right there.”\n\nThe Nats have made two key adjustments with Ross. The first is with his mechanics, and a slight tweak to his delivery is keeping him more closed on the front side, which helps him with more late action on his sinker and to maintain his velocity throughout his outing. Second, Ross has started to rely on his slider (he threw nine Wednesday) less and his curveball (he threw 13) more while also continuing to rely on his two-seamer frequently. His curveball has averaged 81.4 mph on the season, giving him a slower pitch to change speeds and give hitters another look to consider along with his four-seam fastball and changeup.
“I told him, ‘Keep doing what you’re doing,’” manager Dave Martinez said. “His two-seamer is working. He’s throwing his four-seamer on occasion. His changeup was really good today. I really like what he did.”\n\nWith