Washington Nationals news & notes: MacKenzie Gore and Nats salvage finale with Phillies, 3-2 final…

Notes and quotes from the third of three with the Phillies in D.C.

GORE-GEOUS:

MacKenzie Gore threw 47 of his 101 pitches and gave up 4 of 5 hits and 2 of the 3 runs he allowed in his 2024 debut in a couple long innings in the first and second, then settled in over the next four+ innings, giving up just a hit, a walk, and a run the rest of the way.

Gore was a little geeked up early, got up to 98.6 MPH with his fastball, which averaged 97 in the outing (up 2 MPH from his season average last year), which his manager said afterwards was likely the result of some extra adrenaline in the home opener for the Nationals.

“He was pumping 98, so I think he had a little bit of adrenaline,” Davey Martinez said after an 8-4 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates.

“But he settled down. When I took him out he was 97-98, so it was good for him. I think he learned a lot today, so he’ll come out in the next five days and be ready to go again.”

“Adrenaline’s a good thing, if you use it the right way,” Gore said of the bump in velo, as quoted by MASN’s Mark Zuckerman.

“I’m not going to necessarily say I did that the best way. But I was excited.”

HIs manager was excited to see Gore mix in his secondary stuff as much as he did in his first start of the year.

Gore threw 49% fastballs, mixed in his slider (18%), changeup (17%, up from an average of 2.9% last year), and curveball (17%), generating 14 swinging strikes (on 41 total swings) and 21 called strikes (nine on his fastball, one with his slider, four with his changeup, and seven with his curve).

“We talked about that all spring,” Martinez said of the focus on secondary stuff, including the changeup.

“The fact that he went out there and used it was awesome. He made some pretty good pitches with that changeup and his breaking ball. We know he’s got a good fastball, but when he can start doing that, it gets the hitters off-balance.

“And [if he really throws] the ball over the plate, he’s going to be really effective.”

The last comment was a callback to something Martinez said before the outing about the southpaw needing to challenge hitters in the zone.

“The biggest thing for him is to keep the ball in the zone,” he explained in his pregame press conference.

“Nobody is going to chase the ball in the other batter’s box. He’s got to be in the zone. His misses got to be — he wants swings and misses, well, they got to be close in the zone.”

In start No. 2, Gore was up at 97+ MPH again, throwing his fastball 67% of the time through the first two innings, with five swinging and three called strikes on the pitch early, though he did give up a run in the second with a two-out hit by Whit Merrifield, on an 0-1 four-seam fastball up in the zone inside, a stolen base by Merrifield, and RBI single by Edmundo Sosa, on a 1-1 curve low in the zone, driving in the first run of the game, 1-0 Phillies.

It was a 2-1 game in the Nationals’ favor, and Gore was up to 69 pitches overall and four Ks total after he got back-to-back strikeouts from Alec Bohm and Nick Castellanos to wrap up an 18-pitch fourth.

He was down to 55% fastballs after four, but up to nine swinging strikes (six with his heater) and 10 called strikes (seven on his fastball).

Sosa got Gore in the top of the fifth though, hitting a 1-0 slider down and in out to left field for a game-tying home run, 2-2.

Gore was up to 85 pitches after five, and had a 3-2 lead to work with when he took the hill in the sixth and retired Trea Turner and Bryce Harper before handing it over to reliever Jordan Weems…

MacKenzie Gore’s Line: 5.2 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 Ks, 1 HR, 92 P, 58 S, 3/3 GO/FO.

Gore finished with 11 swinging strikes (eight on his fastball, which he threw 53% of the time), and 12 called strikes (seven on his heater), which averaged 97.2 MPH on the day.

The bullpen held onto the one-run lead and the Nationals avoided a sweep with a win in the finale with the Phils.

“It was good,” Gore said of the outing overall. “It was one of those days where we needed to figure out how to win a game and I thought everybody did a great job of that, so…”

Gore was happy with his fastball, and leaned on it.

“It was good. I thought we used it in the right way and it was good. So I thought it was the best pitch today and we used it.”

“I think location of fastballs, the way we went into it, wanting to use it I thought was a little better,” he added.

“He’s got his fastball,” Davey Martinez said. “For me, as we talked about, it’s his misses. If he can keep his misses close to the zone, it’s tough to lay off of, you know, and his ball has got that late ride to it. So when he does that and he’s around the plate, he could throw the ball up, he could throw the ball down, and when he mixes in his changeups and his curveball, he’s pretty nasty.”

ABRAMS SITS AGAIN:

Davey Martinez was asked about his level concern with what he said was a bone bruise on CJ Abrams’ left pinky, suffered sliding into second in the series opener with the Phillies on Friday night.

Abrams, 23, didn’t play in the second of three with Philly in D.C. on Saturday, but Martinez said he was taking a wait-and-see approach when it came to how concerned he was about his shortstop.

“Let’s see tomorrow,” he said. “Right now the hope is he can play tomorrow, if he can’t play tomorrow, then I’ll be a little worried.”

Abrams was not part of the Nationals’ lineup for the series finale on Sunday.

“He’s still a bit sore,” Martinez explained before the game, as quoted by MASN’s Bobby Blanco.

Photo by G Fiume/Getty Images

“So it’s still going to be day-to-day. We’ll see how he feels throughout the day. He’s getting treatment. And I’m hoping that he could pinch-hit for us today late in the game. I just don’t want to push it too much. I don’t want to aggravate it.”

And going forward? As the Nationals head out to face the Giants in San Francisco tomorrow night at 9:45 PM.

“Hopefully he gets through today. Hopefully we don’t need him,” Martinez said. “And then we get to the West Coast and he’ll start playing again. But I’m gonna keep an eye on him.

“Like I said, he’s going to get treatment. I’m sure he’s going to try to go hit like he did yesterday for a little bit. Then hopefully, he’s good to go.”

Abrams did not play in Sunday’s series finale.

“I wanted to stay away from him today,” Martinez said after the win. “He still says that he’s sore. We’ll see how he feels. I mean, he could have pinch ran and stuff like that for us today, but I’m hoping that tomorrow he’s a lot better, we’ll see how he feels, come in and get treatment and we’ll see how he feels.”

RIZZO AND DAVEY ON STRASBURG:

“Today, I am announcing my retirement from the game I love,” Stephen Strasburg wrote in a statement on the end of his career on Sunday morning.

“I realized after repeated attempts to return to pitching,” he continued, “… injuries no longer allow me to perform at a Major League level.”

With that, the 2009 No. 1 overall pick and 2019 World Series MVP made it official, not that there was any possibility of a return at this point, far removed from his last start in the big leagues in 2022.

But the surgeries, and setbacks, and disappointments which followed the World Series win in 2019 are not what GM Mike Rizzo or manager Davey Martinez will think of when they look back on his career.

“The ending is something that nobody could foresee,” Rizzo told reporters when he spoke on the field before Sunday’s game, “… but I don’t remember the ending.

“I remember the journey and the culmination when he got in that Corvette when he won the MVP of the World Series. … Or trying to get in the Corvette when he won the MVP.”

“I’m sure he would have loved to have pitched for us more,” Martinez said when he talked in his pregame presser, “… but under the circumstances he couldn’t. But, man, he gave it everything he had. I was here with them when he was struggling with the injuries and the surgeries, and he really worked hard to try to come back and he just couldn’t do it.

“I wish him and his family all the best, and I’m sure I’ll reach out to him in the next few days, and just thank him again for everything he’s done. He’s had an incredible career.”

Strasburg’s career ending like it did?

“It’s sad,” Martinez said. “It really is. But you know it’s a decision that you as a player have to make, and he made that decision. I’m not going to remember him as him being injured, I’m going to remember him — as we all should — for what he did and what he did for this organization. He had an incredible run, so he should be proud of that. I know I am.”

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