Gore blasted by Braves in Nats' lopsided loss (updated)

The season’s final three weeks will see the Nationals play 11 of their last 19 games against teams in the thick of the pennant race. It makes for a significant challenge for a team loaded with rookies getting used to September baseball in the majors for the first time, let alone games of this magnitude.

The gauntlet begins with a quick, two-game series against the Braves, a division rival the Nats already clinched its season series against. And with MacKenzie Gore having played a huge role in that success, tonight’s matchup on South Capitol Street should have elicited some sense of confidence from the home team.

How much of that confidence remained at the end of a 12-0 drubbing? Gore and Co. can say what they want, but there were no silver linings to be found on this Tuesday night at the park.

In one of his worst starts of the season, and certainly his worst in nearly a month, Gore dug his team into an early 7-0 hole, failing to make it out of the fourth inning and getting battered around by a Braves lineup severely depleted by injury, one just hoping to produce enough to take advantage of great pitching and beat out the Mets for the National League’s final Wild Card spot.

Gore wasn’t solely to blame tonight. He was victimized by two costly defensive mistakes. And the Nationals lineup managed all of three hits despite facing the Atlanta bullpen for eight innings after All-Star starter Reynaldo López departed 25 pitches in with shoulder tightness.

"He didn't pitch well. We didn't hit well," manager Davey Martinez said. "It was kind of a lopsided game."

But Gore unquestionably was the primary culprit in this blowout loss, which ended with Ildemaro Vargas shot-putting 35-mph eephus pitches toward the plate in garbage time.

That the left-hander struggled to this much extent tonight was particularly surprising, not because he hasn’t been prone to blowups in the past but because he had utterly dominated the Braves this season. In each of three prior matchups, he was charged with only one earned run, and he totaled 21 strikeouts while issuing only one walk.

Everything started off well for Gore tonight. He cruised through a quick first inning on 13 pitches, then posted another zero in the second inning on 15 pitches. And when he induced three ground balls to open the third, he looked like he was poised for a big night.

Just one problem: The second of those grounders – a 104.4 mph bullet to third by Luke Williams – confounded José Tena, who couldn’t make the initial snag, then rushed his throw across the diamond and fired offline. It was Tena’s eighth error in 24 games since joining the Nationals last month.

"I should've made the play," Tena said, via interpreter Octavio Martinez. "I should've caught it and made the play."

Defensive gaffe or not, Gore had two outs and one on, with a chance to end the inning without further damage. Instead, he allowed the next five batters to reach base against him, with four runs ultimately scoring thanks to RBI doubles from Jorge Soler, Matt Olson and Ramón Laureano.

The top of the fourth might as well have been a carbon copy of the third. Gore got two quick outs to begin the inning, then served up a homer to Michael Harris II, walked Soler and allowed two-out RBI singles to Olson and Laureano. Only another defensive mistake – catcher’s interference on Keibert Ruiz – prevented Gore from suffering the full brunt of the damage.

All told, only two of the seven runs he allowed were unearned. He’d be the first to admit he deserved a worse fate.

"I just didn't make pitches like I did in the other outings (against the Braves)," Gore said. "I think that's just what it came down to."

Notable about the Braves’ offensive onslaught in this one: All four of their extra-base hits off Gore came on his first or second pitch, their aggressive approach perhaps by design to avoid getting to two strikes against the lefty and facing his arsenal of put-away pitches.

"Our guys are always aggressive to the extreme, quite honestly," Atlanta manager Brian Snitker said. "He is a really good looking young pitcher. It was a night we wanted to break out and score some runs. This was really, really good. A lot of guys stepped up tonight."

On the bright side, Gore won’t have to think about the Braves again until 2025. He made four starts against them this season. He can’t make any more.

"I just didn't execute like I have been," he said. "And when you see teams for a fourth time, execution is extremely important. I didn't do it."