MacKenzie Gore still vexes Phillies, even without March shadows originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
A year and two days ago, the Phillies had no answers for the then-Nationals’ MacKenzie Gore.
Their only comeback, besides their comeback win over Washington that day, was that they couldn’t see.
Shadows.
A common downside of a 4:05 start time, and a precursor to Gore’s career-high 13-strikeout afternoon.
On Sunday, the Phillies couldn’t lean on the same excuse against the now-Rangers’ Gore under a cloudless sky, as Philadelphia dropped the series finale to Texas 8-3.
The tall, lanky left-hander delivered a performance to remember, one that carried echoes of last March. The Phillies didn’t record a hit through the first five innings.
Gore attacked all afternoon against a righty-heavy Phillies lineup. He filled up the zone with his mid-90s heater, then played off it with a big-bending curveball. Bryce Harper has seen plenty of him over the years, and the assessment hasn’t changed much.
“He mixed [his pitches] well today,” Harper said. “The slider/curveball mix, but the heater was really good.”
And he did it in a spot where he hadn’t always been comfortable. Gore had struggled at Citizens Bank Park entering the day, carrying a 7.22 ERA in six career outings against the Phillies.
The Phillies did show some life against the North Carolina native.
In the sixth, they finally put Gore on the ropes. Justin Crawford dribbled an infield single, Trea Turner worked a walk and Kyle Schwarber lofted a single to load the bases.
Harper struck out, but then Gore hit Alec Bohm to force in a run and put the Phillies on the board. Gore’s day was done moments later. Adolis García brought home another run with a sacrifice fly, with that run charged to Gore.
Gore’s final line: 5 1/3 innings, two hits, two earned runs, three walks and seven strikeouts.
Rob Thomson pointed to the same thing he did all weekend: the Phillies are forcing the fight late, but they’re putting themselves in a hole early.
“We got to get something going earlier in the game,” Thomson said. “I think everybody in the lineup is trying to get off to a good start, maybe a little bit anxious, and they’ll settle in.”
Gore was one of the many notable arms on the move this offseason, much like fellow lefty and former NL East opponent Jesús Luzardo, who drew the start opposite him.
Sixes flew for Luzardo in the wrong direction. He went six innings and allowed six runs on six hits, all earned.
His first two innings on the hill were flawless. Six up, six down — paired with three strikeouts. Then, the middle innings of his outing took a turn.
Texas’ newcomers did most of the damage. Brandon Nimmo drilled a left-on-left two-run homer in the third, and former Phillie Andrew McCutchen greeted the crowd with yet another extra-base hit this series — this time a three-run shot that hooked right down the left-field line.
McCutchen even gestured an apology to the Philadelphia faithful, who rained him with boos, on his way back to the dugout.
Thomson’s view was that Luzardo’s stuff was still there, but a couple of mistakes got punished.
“Stuff was really good. Velocity was there. A lot of swing and miss,” Thomson said. “First two innings, he was lights out… just a couple bad pitches.”
Luzardo’s breakdown was similar. No mechanical excuse, just execution.
“No, nothing mechanically,” Luzardo said. “Just got to do a better job to keep the ball in the yard.”
On the Nimmo homer, Luzardo credited the swing more than anything.
“I would say [it was] a good swing on a good pitch,” he said.
The southpaw allowed just one homer on a sweeper to a lefty last season, a pitch he threw 52 percent of the time in those matchups — more than any other delivery.
Luzardo, who signed a five-year, $135 million extension just under three weeks ago, still managed to gut through the outing. He threw 99 pitches and struck out seven. He also didn’t sound like someone spiraling after one bad stretch.
“There’s always positives to take away,” Luzardo said. “We got 159 games left, so it’s not the end of the world… The stuff was probably the best it’s been all year, even throughout spring. So, you know, I’m healthy. I feel great.”
But two- and three-run homers will beat you. And without much run support for the second day in a row, it’s a tough way to win.
It was also the second straight day the Phillies had been no-hit through the first 4.2 innings or more. Turner didn’t chalk it up to panic. More timing, more rhythm, more early traction.
Turner also wasn’t buying into any early-season offensive doom, especially with how little spring camp tends to translate.
“Spring doesn’t really matter one way or the other,” he said. “You get your work, you get ready, if you get out healthy, I think that’s most important… When you get five at-bats every day, you get [into] a rhythm.”
The Phillies will wrap up their six-game homestand when they welcome Washington to town on Monday. Taijuan Walker, Andrew Painter — who will make his Major League debut — and Cristopher Sánchez are lined up over the next three days.
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