‘I was just bad today': MacKenzie Gore doesn't have it in Nats' 8-1 loss

Washington Post

5 days ago

When the baseball left Xander Bogaerts's bat, MacKenzie Gore sauntered toward home plate. It was the first inning, and the bases were loaded. There were no outs. In the best-case scenario, the deep flyball would bounce off the left field wall and the Washington Nationals left-hander would be in position to back up home plate.
Instead, the worst-case scenario came to pass.
Daylen Lile did all he could to track it, but the ball landed well beyond the left field fence, leaving Gore to stand in the infield grass with his hands on his hips. Bogaerts's grand slam was the lowlight of a nightmarish first inning during an 8-1 loss to the San Diego Padres. It was the Nationals' sixth loss in seven games.
'I was just bad today,' Gore said. '... I just wasn't very good. They put the ball in play and they got a lot of hits and they were able to hit two homers, but I just wasn't very good.'
When Gore exited after 2⅓ innings, his shortest start of the season, he had allowed a season-worst eight runs, boosting his ERA to 3.59. Washington (39-60) entered Sunday with an opportunity to claim a series win coming out of the all-star break against a National League contender. Instead, with their ace on the mound, the Nationals found themselves in a hole before their first trip to the plate.
'One pitch, it changed the whole first inning,' interim manager Miguel Cairo said. 'He just fell behind, and they had good at-bats.'
Gore opened the game by walking Fernando Tatis Jr. on five pitches. Then he allowed Luis Arraez to single (on an 0-2 count) before walking Manny Machado. Then came Bogaerts's grand slam. But the inning wasn't over. With one out, Jose Iglesias doubled. By the time Jake Cronenworth hit an opposite-field double to drive in Iglesias, Gore again resorted to placing his hand on his hip.
This wasn't the way Gore, who pitched a 1-2-3 inning in the All-Star Game on Tuesday night, envisioned the start of his second half. But it did continue a trend: He entered Sunday with a 6.98 ERA in 17 July appearances in his career, by far his worst ERA in any month.
Less than a month ago, Gore faced off against San Diego's Nick Pivetta at Petco Park. In that one, Gore allowed one run in six innings as he struck out six. Pivetta outdueled him in the Padres' 1-0 win, going seven scoreless and striking out 10.
On the surface, Gore's game plan Sunday didn't look much different. He relied primarily on his fastball. He threw his curveball more than in the first outing, but not too much more.
This time, though, the Padres (54-45) didn't chase. Last month, they swung at 37 percent of Gore's pitches outside of the strike zone. On Sunday, they chased just 18 percent of those pitches. Catcher Riley Adams said Gore did miss some spots, but he also felt the Padres made an adjustment.
'They were definitely trying to be aggressive early,' Adams said. 'A lot of teams recently have been doing that to MacKenzie, trying to not let him get you to two strikes.'
Gore's problems compounded after the first inning. He retired the first two batters of the second but committed a cardinal sin when he walked Machado. Bogaerts singled. So did Gavin Sheets, who drove in Machado to make it 6-0. In the third, Elias Díaz — the Padres' No. 9 hitter — launched a two-run homer at 107.6 mph that Gore didn't even bother to look at. Before Cairo could get to the mound, Gore already had extended his hand to give him the ball.
The Nationals didn't seem to make any adjustments against Pivetta, who allowed one run in six innings, striking out five. They didn't swing and miss as much they did in the first outing, but they didn't elevate the ball. For the game, they left eight runners on base and went 0 for 8 with runners in scoring position. Their only run came in the fifth inning, when Adams launched a solo homer.
'When you face Pivetta, a really good pitcher, and they score six on you, it's going to be tough,' Cairo said.
Note: Jarlin Susana (ulnar collateral ligament strain) made a rehab start at high Class A Wilmington; it was his first outing since May 4. He pitched two innings as he allowed two hits, a run and two walks while striking out two. Susana, a 21-year-old considered the Nationals' second-best pitching prospect behind fellow right-hander Travis Sykora, started the season at Class AA Harrisburg.