Gore, Gore Again:
MacKenzie Gore threw 88 pitches over six innings without issuing a walk in last week’s game against the Braves in Atlanta, just the second time in his 26 starts this year.
Gore, 25, gave up just one run on seven hits at Truist Park and struck out four of 24 batters in a 2-3 loss that came in the deciding game.
Gore totaled 13 strikeouts and 13 strikes (10 of which were fastballs) in the outing, a much-needed return for the left-hander, who said avoiding walks as a starter was key to his success.
“That was important,” Gore explained. Quote from MASN’s Mark Zuckerman.
“Walks really hurt, especially when they’re in a row. There’s always situations in the game where you don’t want to give up and throw the cookie, but I thought tonight when I got in the count I was able to get after guys and get them done.”
“I thought we outplayed our opponents,” the pitcher added, as quoted by MLB.com. “Even when we lost, I think we were able to bounce back quickly with some aggressive pitching. I thought I was in good form.” [Not walking anyone] It was important. … Tonight, when we had certain counts, we were able to go at them and beat them.”
Rafael Suanez – USA TODAY Sports
“Most of the time today, I was just focused on keeping the ball down,” Nationals manager Davey Martinez said, “and throwing strikes, which is what got me out.”
Gore gave up a solo home run to Jazz Chisholm Jr. in Wednesday’s game. New York Yankees Aaron Judge gave up one run in the fifth inning to give the Nationals a 5-2 lead in the game in Washington’s capital city, but the Nationals’ left-hander ended up allowing the only run he gave up in six innings, throwing 102 pitches, walking one and striking out six of the 26 batters he faced.
Gott struck out 14 batters and had 18 strikeouts in his starts, eight of which were fastballs, accounting for a 53% pitch rate and with his velocity slightly up from this year’s average for the first time in a while.
“I thought I was explosive off the mound. I felt good. My average fastball velocity was back where I needed to be. I felt good,” Gore said.
Why did his velocity drop a bit in his recent games before facing NY?
“It’s been a long season and I’ve had periods where I haven’t been great,” the left-hander told reporters. “That’s all I can really give you guys.”
“I keep trying to get my body ready and start running and I credit the medical staff here, but sometimes I feel good and sometimes I don’t.”
It was a positive for Gore that he was able to maintain his velocity even in the sixth inning.
“Usually if I can get a strikeout in the first inning, I can get one in the sixth,” he said after getting two of his six strikeouts in the sixth inning. “That’s just how it goes.”
“But it’s nice. It’s important to be able to maintain velocity throughout the game. When you need to grab something, it’s important to be able to grab it in the sixth inning like tonight.”
Cruz hits first MLB home run:
Davey Martinez spoke before last night’s game about his decision to use 22-year-old outfielder Dylan Cruz as the leadoff hitter in his third major league game.C.J. Abrams was benched after batting leadoff in the first two games of a three-game series against the Yankees in Washington.).
“He hits the ball, so I want him to hit it at the top of the line,” Martinez said. MLB.com“He understands the strike zone, but he’s still aggressive.”
Cruz was two hits and one double in seven at-bats in his first two games after being promoted on Monday, then started the series finale against a left-handed pitcher.
Cruz homered in just his third major league game on a 1-0 pitch from Carlos Rodon in the zone. Cruz smashed a 399-foot home run to left-center field for his first major league home run.14th out of 103 games played this year in Double-A, Triple-A and across the major leagues).
Cruz struck out in his second at-bat, but in his third at-bat, he hit a double just off the middle of the plate off Rodon’s first fastball, adding a run to make the score 5-1 and putting the team closer to a 5-2 victory.
“He got set up early and got on the fastball,” Martinez said of Cruz’s two-run homer.
“It was amazing. It was good to see. I didn’t expect it, but I had a pretty good feeling about it.”
“I said, ‘If we can drop the ball, it’s going to be a good day.’ And he dropped two balls in the zone and it was a really good day for us.”
“I think it suits my style of play, being aggressive and wanting to get things going early,” Cruz told reporters after the game. Quote from MASN’s Mark Zuckerman“I played leadoff a little bit in college and then I played leadoff in Triple-A and Double-A, so it’s nothing new for me.”
That’s a good thing, because Martinez said he’ll likely start on Friday after the team rested today.
“We have another left-hander coming in on Friday,” he said, “so he’ll be back in the leadoff spot and we’ll take over from there.”
