OAKLAND — Joe Ross is quite familiar with the Oakland Coliseum. He just isn’t used to facing the team he grew up rooting for as an East Bay native.
The Washington Nationals right-hander will make his first start against the A’s Saturday afternoon, a homecoming for the 24-year-old pitcher who grew up in the Oakland hills and was selected in the first round of the 2011 Major League Baseball draft (25th overall) after a sensational career at Bishop O’Dowd High School.
“He lived really close by,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said. “He spent some time here, so there’s always a little different feeling when you come into a ballpark that you grew up watching games at.