Nats waste Gore's Opening Day gem, fall to Phillies in 10 (updated)

Whether anyone outside – or even inside – Washington believes it, the Nationals themselves believe they’re ready to take the next critical step in their long rebuild and compete head-to-head with the top three teams in perhaps baseball’s toughest division.

Consider today’s Opening Day extra-inning thriller a first message sent by this talented, young squad, which saw its new ace overwhelm a star-studded Phillies lineup and several key members of their own lineup deliver in key spots late in the game.

Now, they just need to learn how to finish the job and walk away victorious.

Alas, that wasn’t to be on this otherwise glorious late afternoon. Alec Bohm’s two-out, two-run double off Colin Poche and J.T. Realmuto’s two-run triple off Eduardo Salazar in the top of the 10th gave the Phillies the lead for good in a seesaw game, the Nationals ultimately falling 7-3 before a sellout crowd of 41,231 that desperately wanted reason to celebrate at day’s end but was forced to trudge home disappointed.

"It's not the result we wanted, obviously," said second baseman Luis García Jr., via interpreter Kenny Diaz. "But we battled. We continued to battle throughout, and we battled to the end. That's all we can ever ask for."

The Nats put themselves in prime position to win on Opening Day for the first time since 2021. MacKenzie Gore was absolutely brilliant, striking out 13 over six innings of one-hit ball in the first Opening Day start of his career. Keibert Ruiz homered off Zack Wheeler to give his team a 1-0 lead that held up for six innings.

And even after the bullpen turned that one-run lead into a two-run deficit with a shaky top of the seventh and eighth, the Nationals rallied back to tie the game, getting a deft double-steal by Dylan Crews and Jacob Young to set up an RBI groundout by CJ Abrams and the tying single by García.

Kyle Finnegan had to wriggle his way out of a nerve-wracking, bases-loaded jam in the top of the ninth, overcoming back-to-back walks and a near-hit-by-pitch to get Bryson Stott to fly out to center and keep the game tied heading to the bottom of the inning.

But the Nats went down quietly against Phillies lefty José Alvarado, and so this turned into the third Opening Day extra-inning game in club history, following 10-inning wins over the Mets in 2014 and Braves in 2016.

"We're going to play a lot of those tight games like that, because our starting pitchers, I have a lot of confidence in them," manager Davey Martinez said. "We've got to learn how to turn those games in our favor. ... All those little things I've talked about over the years, it matters. They've got to learn how to execute. But, it's the first day, and that's a really good team over there."

By the time they reached the 10th today, they were left to rely on their fourth and fifth relievers of the game. Neither was able to get the job done. Poche let the inherited automatic runner, plus one of his own making, score on Bohm’s double to the left-center gap. Two batters later, Salazar let both of the runners he inherited score on Realmuto’s drive into the right field corner, which glanced off Crews’ glove and was scored a triple to deliver the final blow.

All told, four of the Nats’ five relievers (all but Finnegan) gave up a total of seven runs in four innings of work, an ominous opening act for a group that already looked like a potential weakness coming out of spring training.

"In spring training, it's a little more controlled, as you can imagine," Jose A. Ferrer said, via Diaz. "Coming here, it's a little faster, the game's a little quicker and you might not necessarily have the time to warm up and get ready and get loose as you would in spring training."

On a picture-perfect, 57-degree afternoon without a cloud in the sky, the 21st season of Nationals baseball got underway following a pregame ceremony that included players running in from center field through a tunnel created by season ticket holders since the inaugural 2005 campaign, a rousing national anthem from local favorite D.C. Washington and a perfectly timed military flyover.

Through it all, Gore was stoic in the bullpen, completing his warmups and then taking a seat to breathe when he was done, not even acknowledging the ovation when P.A. announcer Jerome Hruska belted out his name as the day’s starting pitcher.

The 26-year-old took the mound at 4:06 p.m. and immediately let everyone in the park know he meant business. He struck out Trea Turner (who was cheered by Nats fans) on a fastball, then struck out Bryce Harper (who was booed by Nats fans) on a slider. And off we went.

"I've been really thinking about this start for a long time," he said. "We were locked in going in, and I think we did a really good job of it. I was obviously really focused and excited. It's Opening Day, a great atmosphere, and a really good team. I was ready to go."

Gore wasn’t just effective. He was efficient, at least by his standards. Even when he’s on, he has a tendency to rack up high pitch counts with foul balls and full counts. That wasn’t a problem today; he threw fewer than 20 pitches in each of his six innings.

And the Phillies weren’t touching anything. Kyle Schwarber singled on the first pitch of the second but was promptly thrown out trying to steal second by Ruiz. They didn’t put another man on base against the burgeoning ace.

Gore used everything in his arsenal, getting at least one swing-and-miss on each of his five types of pitches (fastball, slider, changeup, curveball, cutter). During one stretch, he struck out 10 of 11 batters faced.

"He was doing everything," Ruiz said. "Getting ahead. Putting good pitches to get away. Making pitches when we needed to. He was great."

The large crowd began to sense the magnitude of what was happening with each passing inning. Everyone stood with two strikes and two outs in the fifth as Gore struck out Max Kepler with a slider in the dirt. They did the same with two strikes and two outs in the sixth as he got Brandon Marsh with one final slider, turning toward center field and flexing for a brief moment upon realizing he had finished his day in grand style.

The 13 strikeouts weren’t just a career high for Gore, who previously topped out at 11. They weren’t just a Nationals club record for Opening Day. They weren't just a franchise record, having never even been achieved during the Montreal days. No, this qualified as historic, Gore joining Bob Gibson in 1967 as the only pitchers in the modern era to strike out 13, walk none and give up zero runs in a season opener.

Was Gore aware of his mounting strikeout total in real time?

"Not as the game is going on," he insisted. "But when I was done, that's what they told me. I don't even know how to describe the feeling. It's just cool. It was a lot of fun."

Not that anyone should have been shocked by this. Think back to Gore’s final start of the 2024 season. It came against the Phillies, who failed to score over six innings against him, striking out nine times.

Gore departed that game last September with a 2-0 lead in hand. He departed today’s game with a 1-0 lead, the one run supplied by his batterymate. Ruiz had already enjoyed an encouraging Opening Day, singling in his first at-bat, throwing out a baserunner and calling Gore’s gem. Then he capped his day off with a brilliant at-bat.

Fouling off seven consecutive offerings from Wheeler (all but one of them in the strike zone), Ruiz finally found one he could handle. He blasted the 12th pitch of the at-bat into the right field bullpen for one of the most satisfying home runs of his career, the crowd roaring with approval at the 1-0 lead for the home team.

"It was a long at-bat," Ruiz said. "I was competing. And then I won, and I was happy about that."

The Nationals did nothing else against Wheeler, though. Ruiz was the only member of the lineup to record a hit off him. James Wood and Jacob Young each drew a walk but went nowhere after that.

And so the Nationals had to rely on a remade bullpen to try to make a 1-0 lead hold up. A year ago, Martinez would’ve handed the ball in the seventh to either Dylan Floro or Robert Garcia. This year, he went with Lucas Sims and paid the price. The erratic right-hander served up a game-tying homer to Harper, a no-doubter to center that turned Gore’s gem into a no-decision.

"It's the first day," Martinez said of his bullpen's overall struggles. "They've got butterflies. They're a little bit amped up."

Martinez could’ve gone with Ferrer to start the inning, going for the lefty-lefty matchup with Harper. He wound up going to him later in the frame to face Schwarber. That didn’t work, either, when Schwarber tagged Ferrer’s first-pitch fastball to right-center for the go-ahead homer.

"I was just thinking of attacking the zone when I go in there," Ferrer said. "Obviously, it caught me a little by surprise. But my mentality and my thought process there was: Attack him, and throw the ball over for a strike."

Ferrer would surrender another run in the eighth on a wild pitch, and he would end up throwing 34 pitches across 1 1/3 innings, a hefty total for any reliever on Opening Day.

The Nationals needed a late rally to at least tie the game. They got one, giving them a shot at walking away victorious on the first day of the season.

They didn't make the most of that shot. Consider that the next critical step for this young team to take.

"If we take the positives today: We tied the game in the eighth inning, we are competing against a World Series team. We can do it," Ruiz said. "We've got to believe and make the adjustments that we need to when things don't go well and play hard."