Lefty lessons: Gore relishes chance to pitch opposite Kershaw in LA

LOS ANGELES -- One southpaw is chasing his 3,000th career strikeout. The other leads the National League in strikeouts this season. The pitching duel between Clayton Kershaw, 37, and MacKenzie Gore, 26, was a matchup of a likely future Hall of Famer versus an emerging ace.

"It’s good for baseball,” catcher Keibert Ruiz said before the game. “Those two guys are two great lefty pitchers. Obviously, Kershaw is a Hall of Famer. MacKenzie is doing great this year. It’s going to be fun to watch.”

Gore and Kershaw took the mound on Friday in the Nationals’ 6-5 loss to the Dodgers in the series opener at Dodger Stadium. It was the second contest between the left-handers and the first since July 3, 2022.

"I was able to pitch against him here my rookie year,” Gore said. “He’s arguably the best left-hander ever. You watch him pitch, he has a good heater, he has good spin. He’s a guy you can learn from, the way he goes about his business. It’s always cool to pitch against guys like that and you understand who he is coming into the game.”

Gore delivered 5 2/3 innings with seven hits, six runs (five earned), four walks, four strikeouts and one home run over 100 pitches (58 strikes). He is 3-7 with a 3.19 ERA on the season.

Kershaw earned the win in five frames with five hits, two runs, two walks, four strikeouts and two homers over 78 pitches (45 strikes). Since making his season debut on May 17, Kershaw is 3-0 with a 3.31 ERA in seven starts.

"You knew going in that it was going to be a tough game,” said Gore, adding, “... I didn’t throw the ball well against a good team. They had some traffic, and I didn’t make pitches when I needed to to get out of the innings.”

Gore was named the Nationals' 2025 Opening Day starter, and he began the season by racking up a historic 13 strikeouts against the Phillies. Through 16 starts, he ranks first in the NL (second in MLB to Boston's Garrett Crochet) in strikeouts with 123, and he leads all pitchers in strikeouts per nine innings (11.9) and strikeout percentage.

This has been an exponential progression for Gore, who debuted on April 15, 2022, with the Padres. Since the start of the 2023 season -- his first full year with the Nationals after being acquired in the Juan Soto megadeal -- he has tallied the fourth-most strikeouts and the fourth-highest strikeout rate among all left-handers.

Kershaw -- a 10-time All-Star, three-time Cy Young Award winner and World Series champion, among other accolades – has thrown 2,775 1/3 innings over 18 seasons. He held the strikeout title in 2015 (301) and also led the NL in strikeouts in 2011 (248) and '13 (232). He ranks 20th all-time and third among active players behind Justin Verlander (3,463) and Max Scherzer (3,408).

"Kershaw now is not the same guy he was before, but he still understands how to pitch,” said manager Dave Martinez. "He has been good for a long time, and I have the utmost respect for him. We’ve got a young kid here that throws in the mid-90s, has an electric fastball, electric breaking pitches, a good changeup. But he can learn a lot by the way Kershaw is attacking the strike zone.”

In the three years since the southpaws have pitched against each other, Gore has made All-Star caliber strides and Kershaw has strengthened his case for Cooperstown. In different phases of their careers, Friday bridged two decades of dominant southpaws.

"Two elite lefties in the game,” said Riley Adams, who homered off Kershaw. “Clayton Kershaw is a future Hall of Famer and very talented pitcher. I thought MacKenzie handled him well. … It’s a fun, exciting lefty-on-lefty matchup.”