Padres' Bass: 'I Love the Support from Back Home'

Trenton native pitched five innings of five hit baseball while only allowing one run for the San Diego Padres to pick up the win in his major-league debut. Combine that with a solid effort from the bullpen, and the Padres held on to defeat the Colorado Rockies 3-1 at Coors Field on Monday night.

Bass was called up by the Padres due to a rotation that has been riddled with injuries. He had been pitching with the San Antonio Missions in Double-A, where he had posted a superb 6-3 record.

While the game was available only if you had purchased a MLB game package, close to 100 fans went to Buffalo Wild Wings in Southgate to watch Bass pitch. Friends and family arrived as early as 6 p.m. to see his first start.

While waiting for Bass to be shown on the TV during the first commercial break, there was tension in the air. When he was the graduate was shown on TV, the crowd erupted.

Bass pitched five innings and only gave up five hits while walking four. He recorded one strikeout, which happened in the first inning with a pitch that fooled Rockies outfielder Seth Smith. Smith was unable to check his swing and he was called out.

Bass made a great defensive play in the bottom of the fifth inning as well. With runners on second and third and one out, Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki hit a ground ball toward Bass. Bass was able to knock it down, and on an alert and heads-up play, threw the ball to Padres catcher Nick Hundley. Hundley easily tagged out Rockies outfielder Carlos Gonzalez and Bass made it out of the inning with the game still tied 1-1.

The Padres would gain the lead in the top of the sixth and unfortunately for Bass, it began to rain. With a rain delay of an hour and 23 minutes, Padres manager Bud Black decided that Bass' night was over.

When asked about the crowd at Buffalo Wild Wings, Bass was appreciative.

"I love the support from back home, and I want to thank everyone who watched me pitch in my first game," Bass said in a telephone interview as he drove to the airport in Denver.

Starting your first career Major League Baseball game can be extremely taxing and doing it in hitter friendly Coors Field could only add to the pressure. Still, Bass handled the situation calmly and pitched well.

During the rain delay, Bass was in the dugout with other players talking about the experience.

"I was talking to Mat Latos, Anthony Rizzo, and Dustin Moseley during the rain delay, and they were telling me about how I was going to get my first career win," Bass said. "I told them I didn't want to jinx it."

After the game the Padres sent Bass back down to San Antonio to make room for starting pitcher Wade Leblanc, who was recalled from Triple-A. Bass was still very thankful for the opportunity.

"I just wanted to go out and get the Padres the win," he said. "That's what I was focused on, that was my job last night."

Mission accomplished.