UNPOLISHED, STILL GEM
Gore fights through five innings, three relievers follow to shut out Phillies
Friday night was not the best version of MacKenzie Gore, but it might have been the most impressive the rookie has been this season.
There is something, be it mechanics or fatigue, affecting the velocity of his fastball. His command continues to waver.
But Gore still shut out the potent Phillies offense over five innings Friday night, and the Padres went ahead in the sixth and held on for a 1-0 victory at Petco Park.
Austin Nola’s single off his brother, Aaron, drove in Eric Hosmer from second base in the sixth
inning for the game’s only run.
It was the first time an MLB player got a game-winning hit off his brother since Sept. 26, 1979, when Atlanta’s Phil Neikro doubled off his brother, Joe, in the Braves’
9-4 victory over the Astros.
Nabil Crismatt (two innings), Luis Garcia and Taylor Rogers completed the shutout. The Phillies loaded the bases on two singles and a walk before Rogers completed his major league-leading 22nd save.
Gore, whose average fastball velocity sank for a third straight start, down to 93.3 mph, had to throw almost 70 pitches over his final three innings. He got Bryce Harper on a fly ball to left field with the bases loaded in the third, stranded two runners in the fourth and ended the
fifth with two on by striking out Harper and getting cleanup hitter Nick Castellanos on a fly ball to center.
Gore entered Friday having pitched 541⁄3 innings this year, four more than he threw at all levels of the minors in 2021. The Padres estimate he approached the equivalent of 100 innings with the work he did at their Arizona complex correcting mechanical issues, but the 23-year-old lefty has not pitched this much competitively since 2019.
Gore began this season with a 1.50 ERA and 57 strikeouts in his first nine games, the only pitcher to have ever done that at the start of a big-league career. In the two starts leading up to Friday, he allowed 14 runs and struck out four batters in 61⁄3 innings.
The Padres have maintained the issue with the fastball is mechanical.
“I don’t think we’re (at) a point right now where this is a trend,” manager Bob Melvin said. “Obviously, we keep an eye on it.”