Gore dazzles with 'electric stuff' in Nats debut

WASHINGTON -- Exactly eight months had passed since the Nationals acquired MacKenzie Gore in a blockbuster trade with the Padres before the highly touted southpaw made his debut wearing a Curly ‘W.’ And when he did, it proved to be worth the wait.

“It’s been a long time,” said Gore, who was on the injured list when he joined the Nats. “I’ve been looking forward to it, and it was a lot of fun.”

Gore threw 5 1/3 innings and allowed one run on three hits, four walks and six strikeouts to lift the Nationals to their first win of the season, 4-1, against the Braves on Sunday afternoon at Nationals Park. He located 56 of his 93 pitches for strikes, and his fastball averaged 94.7 mph.

“It was good, it was good,” manager Dave Martinez said of Gore’s start. “The thing for me is getting him in the strike zone. When he does that, he’s got electric stuff and we saw that. He fell behind a few times, but he was able to get back into counts because he was able to get foul balls [or] swings and misses. … He went out there and attacked, attacked, attacked, and it was awesome.”

Gore, 24, was locked in from the moment he ran from the dugout to the mound, so much so he had to pause for the official start time of the game to catch up. He retired leadoff hitter Ronald Acuña Jr., who homered the previous day, on a flyout to left field and then struck out Matt Olson and Austin Riley.

"He was kind of effectively wild,” said Braves manager Brian Snitker. “He's got a good arm, a really good arm. We hadn't seen a lot of him. His stuff is really good. He's a good looking young pitcher.”

The Nationals’ offense gave Gore a four-run first-inning lead, and their defense locked in for a 1-2-3 second inning. It was highlighted by third baseman Jeimer Candelario’s head-turning grab ranging into foul territory to nab Marcell Ozuna at first base.

“We knew [Candelario] was going to make plays,” Gore said. “We’re going to play good defense; we did that in spring. That’s what we did today, and it was beautiful. Double plays, Candy was making plays all around, so it was fun to watch.”

Gore did not allow a runner on base until a leadoff walk to Michael Harris II in the third. He held the Braves hitless until Ozzie Albies singled to left as the fourth batter in the fourth inning, and Travis d’Arnaud drove in Atlanta's only run with a line-drive single into center field in the next at-bat.

Another 1-2-3 frame in the fifth had Gore back on the mound for the sixth with no one warming up. After he struck out Acuña Jr., walked Olson and allowed a single to right field to Riley, Martinez made the call to the bullpen with one out and runners on first and third, noting the Nats had a target of around 90 pitches for Gore. Hunter Harvey got a double-play ball to close out the frame.

“He has a good fastball with good life on it,” said Braves catcher Sean Murphy. “He gets down the mound and he attacks guys. We weren't able to capitalize on the opportunities we had."

Gore has been highly touted since he was a teenager, as the 2017 Gatorade National High School Male Athlete of the Year in all sports. The third pick in the ‘17 MLB Draft out of high school, Gore was ranked as MLB Pipeline’s No. 6 overall prospect in ‘21 before making his Major League debut on April 15, 2022.

Gore was sidelined by left elbow inflammation when he became a headliner in the Juan Soto megadeal that brought six players to Washington from San Diego at the 2022 Trade Deadline. He made four rehab starts with Triple-A Rochester to end the season, and he entered camp healthy in February, earning the role as the Nats’ No. 3 starter.

“When we made the trade and he was involved in it, we were all excited,” Martinez said. “To see him out there, and competing the way he competed today, was awesome. He picked us all up today. Great job by him and his teammates.”

The Nationals' home crowd that has been anticipating Gore’s debut greeted him with a standing ovation when he exited what from what is expected to be the first of many starts for seasons to come.

“That was cool; that usually means you’ve pitched all right,” Gore said. “It was great to be out here. I’ve been here for a little bit, and it was fun to finally pitch.”