Front Page – Coors Goa:
For the first time since July 25, 2022, Mackenzie Gore took the mound and threw 5 in a major league game last week. 1⁄3 He gave up three hits, four walks, and an earned run in the eventual Washington Nationals victory, 4–1. He had an elbow problem that he rehabilitated with Knott’s system late last season.
Gore started rehab in the minors, but didn’t return to the majors in 2022 after making his debut earlier in the year, so returning to the big league mound meant a lot.
“It’s been a while,” said the 24-year-old southpaw after his first start at the new team’s home stadium.
“It was good. It was about figuring out how to win, making plays when we needed to, creating the pitch as a staff, and having a big first inning, so it was great.”
“It was my debut for this team,” Gore said at another point. I had to think about how I could win. As we showed today, we can beat this team. It was more than that—this wasn’t about me today.
Given the size of the deal he got as part of the package Knotts received in exchange for Juan Soto and Josh Bell, his manager said a healthy Gore could return to the mound. He said it was wonderful to see
“Look, when we made the deal and he was involved in it, we were all thrilled. He picked us all up today, great job by him and his teammates,” Martinez said.
“For me, it’s all about getting him in the strike zone and when he does, he’s got an electric one. , I was able to get foul balls and swings and mistakes so I could get the count back, but he was good… very good.”
Martinez told reporters in Colorado that he would like to see more of what Gore did when he started second.
“I want him to come forward and repeat what he did last time,” said the coach. Again, talk it over with the young pitchers, get the ball in the zone, move fast, and go from there. I would love to continue working with Mackenzie. His stuff is very good, but we need him to work first.”
Gore screamed to himself and writhed, oblivious to seeing the Rockies’ first at-bat of the second at-bat, a 2-2 slider down the middle of Ryan McMahon.
McMahon hit 443 feet to the right at Coors Field for his second HR of the season after the Nationals jumped out to a 4–0 lead with a two-run second at the top of the frame. The home team finished with two innings.
Gore moved up 6–1 for third, retiring the side in order. He was up to 51 pitches that night, with the Nationals southpaw getting two outs after giving up a leadoff single in the bottom of the fourth, but a two-out walk extended the inning and a two-out RBI single off Yonah. Saint-Daza’s bat drove in the Rockies’ second run of the game, and a throw-in from right by Lane Thomas on play took them to the final from the frame with a 6–2 Nuts at third base.
It was 8-2 when Gore avoided a leadoff single in a scoreless sixth, making him 98 pitches overall that night. It was his second appearance of the season…
Mackenzie Gore quotes: 6.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 Ks, 1 HR, 98 P, 64 S, 6/4 GO/FO.
Gore had 13 swing strikes, 10 curve strikes, 17 call strikes, and 14 solid outings with a fastball for the nuts.
“Mackenzie threw the ball well again,” his manager said after the 10-5 win.
“He did well. I can’t say anything about him. He’s a competitor. He gets a little hot when something goes wrong, but I thought he threw the ball really well.”
The pitcher he saw in the first two games of the season was the pitcher the Knots thought he got in a trade last August.
“We saw him play for another team and saw what he could do,” Martinez said.
“And he’s healthy and he’s throwing the ball for us right now, so we’re excited about that. I’m really excited.”
“It was good,” Gore said of his first two appearances of the season.
“There are definitely some things that could be improved, but in the games I pitched, we played great. It’s just cool to be a part of it.”
The left-hander said he was pleased with how he and catcher Keibert Lewis had adapted to what was working in the air at Coors Field’s one-mile high.
Photo by Dustin Bradford/Getty Images
“We’ve stopped throwing sliders, as you can see,” he explained. “For the curveball, it was good because it gave me a better feel for getting the ball where I needed it. Keevert saw that and made adjustments. Because it is possible.”
Bullpen action:
Erasmo Ramirez allowed three consecutive hits in the bottom of the seventh inning (Elias Diaz and Jonathan Diaz) and RBI double (Ezekiel Tovar) scored once to make it an 8-3 game, and another run turned into a groundout before the Nationals went to the Penn again at 8-4.
Martinez about Ramirez’s outing: “He was trying to get the ball up and it was down and he was just missing a spot, but he’s fine.”
Hunter Harvey took over and gave up Kris Bryant’s RBI single 8-5.
Carl Edwards Jr. finished 8th and Kyle Finnegan finished 9th, winning the final 10-5.
Martinez said of Finnegan’s clean outing after struggling in two of three games: “We wanted to bring him back. It was a good day to come back. It was a good day for him to come back. Today he did really well. I threw the ball.”
BACK PAGE – build something:
After a rare 1-0 loss in the series opener in Denver (Like “11th” [1-0 game] ‘Rare’ type at Coors Field since opening in 1995), Knots skipper Davey Martinez said the offense could work if his club gains momentum.
“We got a very young group,” Martinez explained. First time, and being in Colorado, opening day, everything plays, but it starts to settle down. I think we’ll be fine Like I said, the record doesn’t show it, but I’ve seen some good stuff. We had several chances to break the game with the bases loaded and no runs scored, but we weren’t able to do so.
“We had to keep swinging the bat, but we had to get the ball in the strike zone.? But we can’t tell them [to] Start pitching. No, be aggressive, be aggressive in the strike zone.
2 of 4 games for the Coors?
Alex Cole got all the 2-1 fastballs off Jose Ureña, hit left at Coors Field, and hit a solo home run off a right-handed starter in his first at-bat against the Rockies on Friday.
Jeimer Candelario hit right from 1 out after 4 pitches to sinker 2-1. 2-0.
What is the offensive problem? The Nationals doubled their home run total in two at-bats in the first seven games of the season, jumping out to an early lead in two of four at-bats against the Rockies.
Luis Garcia lined up a high 2-0 sinker in right-center. Lane Thomas hit his 0-2 slider to left. CJ Abrams stepped in next in his second top, and in his third at-bat in the first of the second top, he hit a 103.7 MPH ground ball right off Yona Thundaza.
Victor Robles drove three pitches out of the zone in his next at-bat, but Cole put the Nationals up 3–0 with Ulenha and the Rocks. rice field.
Garcia lined up a two-out single-through short in the third for the Knots, advanced to third on an error on Lane Thomas’ ground ball, and Abrams scored on a two-run triple to center.With a 3-0 sinker low in the zone) drove in two more runs, the third being 6-1.
Ty Blach took over the home team’s mound with two outs in the third inning.
Abrams hit two consecutive triples to put Thomas in the top of the fifth and give the Nationals a 7–2 lead in the Rockies. right wing angle. Abrams went from three hitters to a sack flyby he called after two hitters and he scored 8–2.
Joey Meneses doubled with one out in the eighth inning to score on a single by Dominic Smith, right-hander Dinelson Rammett moved up on a wild pitch, and Keibert Lewis singled to make it 10–5. bottom.
“The problem is, this game is as crazy as we know it,” Martinez said after his victory.
“Yesterday we lost 1-0, but today we got up and hit 19-20 and scored 10. We have to keep moving forward. Let’s prepare for tomorrow, but I swung the bat really well today.”
DOOOOOM!!!:
Luis Garcia was 2-for-4 on the night after grounding to shortstop to end the top of the sixth, and the 22-year-old shortstop seemed to have tweaked something on the way to first. For his sixth start for the Rockies, he ran first and was replaced by Ildemaro Vargas in second.
“His right hamstring is tight,” Martinez said after the game. “So tomorrow we’ll see how he feels.
“He’s probably going about his normal life, he says he’s fine now, but we’ll see how he feels.”
Asked if the issue was important enough to put someone on a plane to Colorado, Martinez interrupted that sort of talk.
“I think he’s fine,” said the manager.
“They looked him up. He’s got good strength. If he needs a day tomorrow, we can give him a day. But when he wakes up tomorrow Let’s see how he feels.”
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In the first five games of the season, Alex Cole hit 6th hitter twice, 5th hitter once, and 2nd hitter twice. I gave Cole a chance last night.
“The match against this guy is [Rockies’ starter José Ureña], I like Alex. This guy—he walks some guys. Alex does a great job as a nasty hitter. Martinez explained before last night’s game.
As noted above, Cole homered first, and after his fifth sack fly, he was up to 3 RBIs on the night (2-for-1, BB, R, 3 RBI).
“He’s drastically reduced his chase rate, which is what he likes,” continued the sixth-year skipper.
“He’s got the ball in play for the most part. He’s had a good at-bat.”
Martinez also notes that leadoffs are too big a deal, as he often does.
“You lead the game, but honestly after that you’re just another hitter and you’re going to come out in different situations in the game. It’s the first inning that you want to get the first run in. We’ve tried a lot of guys and you know, I put some big heavy hitters in there to get the first run early. I checked whether
“Today is Alex Cole. It’s a matchup.”
Good management, Davey.
“I mean, that’s why I wanted a call in the leadoff today,” he said after the win. “And you know Candy back to back like that. So it was a good day for the hitter and for McKenzie.”
