Gore primed for 2025 after strong finish: 'He should feel really good'

WASHINGTON -- After holding the Cubs to seven one-hit innings in his previous start, MacKenzie Gore showed the pitcher that he could be next season in his last outing of 2024.

Gore closed out his year with six scoreless innings in the Nationals’ 6-3 win over the Phillies on Saturday afternoon at Nationals Park. The offense did the rest to support the work of their starter and secure the series win.

“Honestly, he started out [the season] really well, [then] he had a little lull,” said manager Dave Martinez before the game. “For me, I'm looking at how he finishes. Once again, it shows the maturity of one of our younger pitchers that he was able to put things together again and finish up strong. He's had a really good, good month. I'm proud of him.”

Gore cruised through his outing, facing no more than four Phillies batters in each inning. The 25-year-old’s night ended with him striking out the side -- consisting of Kyle Schwarber, Trea Turner and Bryce Harper.

“He wanted to get through that inning, and he did in a way where he left a mark,” Martinez said. “It was a good way to finish the game.”

Gore dealt 91 pitches (59 strikes) over six innings, fanning nine batters and allowing just three hits and one walk.

“I thought we had a good mix,” Gore said. “I thought we had a good game plan going in. And we face these guys a lot, so I know them. They see me a lot. I thought we did a nice job of executing when we needed to, and it was a good one.”

In seven starts since Aug. 23, the southpaw has posted a 1.55 ERA, allowing just seven earned runs. It is the sixth-best ERA among MLB pitchers with at least 30 innings over that span. He has a 0.91 WHIP and a .181 opponents’ batting average in those seven outings.

“He's just good, man,” said Phillies shortstop Trea Turner. “I think he's a good pitcher. The shadows were a little tough at times, but he's just good. He's got stuff. He's got the [velocity]. He's got three or four other pitches to go with it. He spotted up pretty good today."

Gore put in the work on the mound to keep the Phillies' offense silent. It was then up to the Nationals' offense to get some runs -- and they delivered.

Rookie left fielder James Wood opened up the scoring in the sixth inning. With one out and Luis García Jr. at first, Wood adjusted his approach against Philadelphia ace Zack Wheeler according to what he learned from his first two at-bats.

The results: his ninth homer of the season and two runs on the board for Washington.

It was only after being held scoreless for 7 2/3 innings that the Phillies were able to tie the game with a two-run homer by Turner, but the Nationals did not miss a beat. Washington responded in the bottom of the eighth with a four-run rally keyed by Wood’s leadoff triple.

While he did not get to add the win to his record, Gore said his season was “solid” overall. He was able to achieve new milestones despite having some struggles in the middle of the year.

“I think career-high innings [166 1/3], career-high strikeouts [181],” Gore said. “I still think there's some room for improvement. We went through a tough stretch, and we were able to get through it.”

Martinez said Gore has a “great building block” heading into next season by studying what worked for him this month and bringing it into the spring.

“He should feel really good about himself,” Martinez said. “We talk about how he's a perfectionist, he wants everything to be right. He should go home knowing that ‘Hey, I had a really good September, and I finished up strong.’ If he goes back and looks at videos or mechanics, he should look at what he did this last month and then build from there. If we could keep him right there and get him started in the spring like that, he's going to have some good numbers for us next year.”