Goa vs AZ:
After receiving additional rest after a nail issue on his pitching hand, MacKenzie Gore pitched seven innings last week against Miami in the nation’s capital, allowing five hits, one walk and one earned run while striking out 10 of the 28 batters he faced on 103 pitches.
Gore struck out a career-high 25 batters in the game — 12 on his fastball, five on his changeup and four each on his curveball and slider — and credited a good game plan against the Marlins hitters.
“I felt good,” the 25-year-old left-hander told reporters. “… I was able to pitch at a high enough level and pitch when I needed to.”
“They’re an aggressive team, so if you hit it right, you can get them to strike out,” he explained. “They strike out a lot, so that was kind of our game plan before the game.”
On Thursday afternoon at Nationals Park, the left-hander started well, giving up a single in the first inning while striking out three batters, but then gave up a single and a walk in the second inning, throwing 40 total pitches. After allowing consecutive singles with two outs in the third inning, the Arizona Diamondbacks struck out the Nationals starter, allowing four hits, including a one-RBI single and a two-run double, to go up 3-0.
Gore returned to the mound in the fifth inning and gave up a single, a walk and an RBI single with two outs, giving the Diamondbacks a 4-0 lead. He threw 103 pitches, allowed a career-high 10 hits and hit 26 total foul balls. Arizona’s lineup increased the pitch count to get Gore out early, but 9 of his 10 hits were singles.
“I think it’s part of the game,” Gore told MASN’s Bobby Blanco after the 5-2 loss in the series finale. “Yeah, I guess. [soft hits] “It’s good that I didn’t hit the ball hard today, but I also need to understand why I’m hitting it. That’s what it was like today. I’m sure I’ll be able to hit it again tomorrow.”
“Today he was a totally different person to me,” his manager said.
“At the top of the lineup, he was perfect, he was hitting the zone hard and getting strikeouts. And then at the bottom of the lineup, they weren’t hitting the ball hard, so it was a little different for him. He just felt like he was really out of sync all day. He struggled a few innings there.”
Martinez’s team is coming off a sweep of the Marlins, a two-game losing streak to the Diamondbacks and a four-win, two-loss record in six home games before heading out on the road to face Colorado, San Diego and Tampa Bay.
The seventh-year captain wasn’t too worried about the loss in the series against Arizona.
“We’re playing well,” he said. “We’re not going to let one game stop us from what we’re trying to do. Today was tough, but we’ll be back tomorrow and fly out to Colorado.”
“Let’s aim for 1-0 tomorrow.”
PFP:
Mitchell Parker acknowledged that after making a blunder in his June 11 start that started things off badly, he was affected by the misplay over the next few batters.
“Maybe I just dragged it out a little too long,” the 24-year-old rookie said, “… and then I did bring it all back at some point, but I definitely kept it in my head a little too long.”
When asked what he learned from the error, Parker laughed and said, “Catch the ball and throw it.”
“Don’t make the game too fast. It’s a fast game, but don’t make it any faster than it needs to be.”
His manager said there’s an easy way to fix a starting pitcher’s mistake.
“PFP,” pitcher Davey Martinez told reporters during a fielding drill. “We’re going to do a PFP. Really. I was sitting there, and I said I’m not going to lie to you guys, but I was scratching my head and I was like, ‘I can’t hit the ball any easier.’ But that’s what makes the game fun. Sometimes stuff happens.”
Parker also made an error in his next outing, but couldn’t avoid it.
Before Wednesday afternoon’s game against the Diamondbacks, Parker was on the field at Nationals Park for a practice practice.
“He did a good job,” Martinez told reporters in his pregame press conference. “He caught a lot of balls.”
“I hope he understands the importance of defending his position. But he did a good job. I just wanted to get him out. I don’t want to give him the idea that there’s something wrong with him. That’s the most important thing. He’s done it a lot and he’s done it well. The most important thing is to get him down. Like I said, he gets ahead of himself sometimes. You have to catch the ball before you throw it. So go down, gather yourself and make a good throw to first base. But he did a good job. I was with him and we were laughing about it. I said, ‘I can laugh now, but if I miss one more pitch, I’m back here again.'”
Parker’s reaction to both errors, especially the second one, convinced his manager that this was something that needed to be addressed.
“The reason we did it is because he slammed his glove down the other day and he was really frustrated,” Martinez explained. “So we thought we’d put him out there and let all that frustration go. That way he’ll just focus on getting hitters out. That’s what he’s good at. So let’s put him out there and let him do his thing. And hopefully he does well and it doesn’t happen again. But he’s really good. He’s getting ready for his next outing. That’s how we see him.”
Photo by Jess Rapfogel/Getty Images
“There’s nothing wrong with it,” Parker said Wednesday afternoon. Quote from MASN’s Mark Zuckerman.
“Between [last misplay Sunday]I kind of expected this to happen. Luckily I’m going to deal with it before it becomes a bigger issue.
“I appreciate the effort to go out and put in the work. It’s a good thing.”
“I always talk about the little things because no matter what pitch he’s making, he’s making a really good pitch,” Martinez added. “The little things really help. Those are some of the little things. You don’t necessarily take them for granted, but when the game gets fast, sometimes you think, ‘I’m just gonna stand there and catch the ball, make a good throw to first base and that’s it.’ The key today was just getting him to relax and understand that he can make this play 99 times out of 100. Just do it, and he did a great job of it.”
