SAN DIEGO -- Talk about consistency.
For the third year in a row, MacKenzie Gore took the mound for the Nationals at Petco Park on June 25.
The coincidental repetition in the baseball schedule and Nats starting rotation is particularly notable considering Gore was drafted by and made his Major League debut with the Padres.
Gore pitched six strong innings to keep the Nationals in the game on Wednesday, but the offense was silenced by Padres veteran right-hander Nick Pivetta in a 1-0 loss.
“To only give up one run to that lineup is really good,” said manager Dave Martinez. “The way he was pitching today was outstanding.”
In his past June 25th’s at Petco Park, Gore has tallied 15 hits, 7 runs, 8 walks and 16 strikeouts across 16 innings:
• 2025 (1-0 loss): 6 innings, 5 hits, 1 run, 3 walks, 6 strikeouts
• 2024 (9-7 loss): 5 innings, 5 hits, 5 runs, 3 walks, 1 strikeout
• 2023 (8-3 win): 5 innings, 5 hits, 1 run, 2 walks, 9 strikeouts
Per Elias Sports Bureau, the last two visiting pitchers to start at the same ballpark on the same date three years in a row were Corbin Burnes on July 1, 2021-‘22-‘23 at PNC Park and Dan Haren on Aug. 31, 2010-‘11-‘12 at T-Mobile Park.
Gore nearly made it a four-peat during his one Major League season with San Diego -- he started at Petco Park on June 24, 2022, just over a month before he was traded to the Nationals.
But another trend that followed was the Nationals struggling to provide Gore with run support. In seven of his 17 starts this season, the Nats have scored three runs or less, including two shutouts. Gore’s 3.09 ERA is contrasted with a 3-8 record.
“That’s on us, that’s on the lineup,” said center fielder Jacob Young. “He keeps us in almost every game. We just haven’t been able to score the runs. Especially in games like this where it’s one or two, we haven’t been able to scrap the couple together and get him some more wins. But he’s had our back on the mound, so hopefully in the second half of the year, we can have his.”
Gore bounced back from allowing a season-high six runs (five earned) in 5 2/3 frames at Dodger Stadium last Friday. He grew his National League-leading strikeout total to 129, doing so against a Padres team that entered Wednesday with the lowest strikeout rate in the NL (18.8 percent). He tied Patrick Corbin (2019) for the most strikeouts by a Nats southpaw before the All-Star break.
“The sun came up the next day [after L.A.], and we had to get ready for this one,” Gore said, adding, “I thought the mix was good. We didn’t throw too many in the heart of the plate.”
Gore recorded all of his strikeouts against the Padres in the first five innings. As his pitch count reached triple digits, Gore took it upon himself to get out of the sixth inning. All three outs were ground balls hit to the mound, which Gore fired off to first baseman Nathaniel Lowe to retire Fernando Tatis Jr., Gavin Sheets and Bryce Johnson.
“He’s a really good athlete,” said Martinez. “I get to see him every day shag fly balls in center field. I always joke around with him, if we’re ever in a pinch and need an outfielder, I might put him out there.”
Gore gave the Nationals a quality start that only required Brad Lord and Kyle Finnegan to finish the game, helping the taxed bullpen before the team has its first off day in 16 days on Thursday.
“He’s very focused on what he needs to do -- every batter, every pitch,” said Martinez. “He’s been awesome. I talked about his maturity, his growth, he’s been amazing just keeping his composure and understanding what he needs to do to keep us in games.”