Padres blast Cubs with 9-run inning

The Padres have excelled at making outs in this singular season, but on the wrong side of the ball.

They entered their series finale at Wrigley Field with 299 runs through 100 games, on pace for undesirable history.

Thursday, the unthinkable happened. For one interminable half-inning, the Padres were unstoppable.

In the sixth frame of a 13-3 demolition of the Cubs, they scored nine runs on eight hits, all singles, in 15 plate appearances. It proved extravagant support of Tyson Ross, who continued the finest month of his career, setting a career-high with 11 strikeouts in six innings.

“It was awesome,” said catcher Rene Rivera, who went 3-for-5 with a fifth-inning home run. “You could see everybody in the dugout was cheering for each other. It was good times.”

The nine runs were the Padres’ most since they also scored nine times in the second inning at Florida on July 20, 2011. The eight hits were their most since they also had eight in the fifth inning against Colorado on Sept. 16, 2012. The 15 plate appearances were their most since they also sent 15 men to the plate in the first inning at Houston on July 29, 2007.

“You talk about offense as being contagious and hitting being contagious, and you saw that tonight,” Padres manager Bud Black said. “There were a lot of good at-bats.”

Thursday, in the sixth, the Padres completed a full cycle through their lineup before they made an out.

The damage, in order: Yasmani Grandal walked. Will Venable singled. Jake Goebbert singled. Chris Nelson reached on a fielder’s choice, while Grandal scored on a throwing error. Rivera singled. Ross was hit by a pitch. Alexi Amarista singled. Yangervis Solarte walked. Seth Smith singled.

Grandal came to the plate again. He struck out looking, for the first out. Venable singled. Goebbert struck out swinging. Rivera singled. Ross then grounded out, finally calling off the onslaught, but not after the Padres had loaded the bases seven times.

The Padres would finish with 14 hits -- three apiece from Rivera, Smith and Venable -- as well as a season-high in runs, one more than they collected on May 23, also against the Cubs. In that 11-1 rout, they’d battered Chicago starter Edwin Jackson, torching the right-hander for eight runs in four innings.

Thursday, Jackson was on the mound again. He was marginally more effective, surrendering five runs, four earned, in five innings. He exited with cramping in his right hand after allowing two baserunners in the top of the sixth.

From there, Cubs relievers Brian Schlitter and Wesley Wright were steamrolled.

It was all a stark contrast to Ross, who allowed only one run over his six innings. He was momentarily challenged in the fourth, when the Cubs led off with a pair of singles, then loaded the bases with a one-out single. But Ross bore down, inducing a soft lineout and striking out former teammate John Baker with an 87 mph slider.

Two frames later, after what seemed an interminable half-inning in which he batted twice himself, Ross threw a perfect bottom of the sixth.

“It’s never a challenge when you’re getting a bunch of runs,” said Ross, who improved to 9-10. “I’ll wait hours, I don’t care. It’s fun watching the guys hit, and I’m happy they came out swinging tonight.”

In five starts this month, the Padres’ all-star right-hander has pitched to a 1.03 ERA with 41 strikeouts against just five walks.