MacKenzie Gore Eases Back into Nationals Rotation After Shoulder Injury

Gore had to work right away as he allowed a leadoff single to Miami’s Xavier Edwards in the first inning. Agustin Ramirez followed that with a single. Jakob Marsee grounded into a force out to move Edwards to third base, followed by a Heriberto Hernandez sacrifice fly to drive in Edwards, giving the Marlins a 1-0 lead.

Gore then gave up a single to Eric Wagaman, which scored Marsee to make it 2-0. The left-hander then induced a groundout by Joey Weimer to end the inning.

From there, Gore controlled the game. He allowed three of the four hits he gave up in his five innings in the first frame. From there, he gave up a Marsee single in the third inning that led to nothing. He also gave up two walks.

He finished by allowing four hits, two earned runs, two walks and four strikeouts as his ERA moved to 4.14. Gore also took the loss, dropping to 5-14.

Gore leaned into his four-seam fastball on Thursday, per his Statcast data from the game. In fact, he threw that pitch 50% of the time, or 39 times. He averaged nearly 95 mph and topped out at only 96.5 mph. Meanwhile, he used his curveball (19) and his changeup (11) a combined 38% of the time. The average velocity for both pitches was 81.8 mph for his curveball and 85.9 mph for his changeup.

Gore induced 37 swings and 11 whiffs. Marlins hitters fouled off 11 pitches, part of the reason the left-hander only threw 78 pitches.

The Nationals placed Gore on the 15-day IL on Aug. 30, retroactive to Aug. 27, with left shoulder inflammation. It was his first trip to the IL since September of 2023, when an injury put him on the IL on Sept. 9 that season and he remained out until the end of the season. Assuming he has no further setbacks, this should allow Gore to get in at least two more starts, perhaps three, as a springboard for 2026.