Bass finishes strong season with Padres

Trenton native and former Trojan pitched his final start of the season for the San Diego Padres Tuesday, going five innings and only allowing one earned run and departed with a one run lead. The Padres bullpen did not hold the lead, losing the game 6-2 to the Chicago Cubs. 

For Bass, the experience has been great. He started the season with the Padres minor league team the San Antonio Missions and was called up to the majors to make his first career start June 13.  He would wait exactly 100 days before he made his second career start on September 21.  Inbetween starts, he filled in admirably in the bullpen. Bass won both starts and seemed prime for a win on Tuesday as well before the bullpen collapsed. 

The Padres jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second inning, but not before Bass had to pitch out of a tough first inning in which he allowed multiple base runners.  Working through the jam with poise and control, Bass did not allow a run until Cubs third baseman Aramis Ramirez hit a home run to deep center field in the fourth inning.  He worked another inning before leaving the game. 

Also working for Bass was his only plate appearance of the night.  With runners on first and second, Bass put down a perfect bunt to move the runners to second and third. Bass had a pitch count of 63, with 42 of those pitches being strikes.  

For the season Bass pitched a 1.68 ERA and pitched 15.0 innings as a starter, making a strong case for him being the fifth starter on the Padres roster next season.