NEW YORK -- MacKenzie Gore has completed a full six innings just once this season.
He looked to be on pace to do so again on Thursday in the Rangers’ series finale against the Yankees, before trouble arose, some of his own making and some outside of his control.
Gore cruised through the first five frames, but ultimately allowed five runs (tied for his season high) in 5 1/3 innings in Texas’ 9-2 loss at Yankee Stadium.
But for what it’s worth, Gore would have been out of the sixth inning with minimal damage if Alejandro Osuna had caught a popup off the bat of Amed Rosario. That batted ball, which had an expected batting average of .030, would have been the first out of the inning. Gore eventually walked a pair of batters to load the bases and the Yankees ultimately scored six runs to take a lead that they never again surrendered.
The Rangers did not record any official errors in the loss, but from the first inning, they clearly weren’t sharp.
“When you play against good teams, there is no margin of error,” manager Skip Schumaker said. “That's what they do. When you make errors, when you give extra outs, good teams capitalize. And they did just that. No matter who's on the mound. It's not easy when you're facing a lineup like that.”
The Rangers acquired Gore for a package of five prospects this offseason, hoping he would be an anchor to what was an elite rotation in 2025. But instead, he’s struggled to throw strikes and go deep into games at multiple points throughout his first month with his new team.
He’s pitched to a 5.18 ERA in his first eight starts.
“We're trying to get different pitches to be put in play in early counts,” Schumaker said. “We've talked about it. You've heard me talk about it. … I think today actually was better than probably the line showed just because of what happened. If we made those plays, I think the [line doesn’t look] as bad.”
His early removals -- not today, but in general -- can be attributed to elevated pitch counts. Gore has averaged 20.9 pitches per inning, the most in the Majors among 125 pitchers to throw at least 30 innings this season.
He’s reached a three-ball count 45 times this season, tied for fourth-most in the Majors. He has recorded just 45 of his 120 outs within the first three pitches of a plate appearance this season, ranked 111th of 125 pitchers to throw at least 30 innings.
Gore said he thought today was better, though the walks in the sixth inning didn’t help his final line.
“I thought we were solid early,” Gore said. “The sixth kind of got away from us. That was better than the last one, but still pretty frustrating when you look at it now. That was better, just not good enough. I think after every good or bad outing, you have to be honest. There's definitely some things we did better than the last one here. We're gonna move on. It’s frustrating right now. We had a chance to win a series and just didn't execute in the sixth.”