ANAHEIM -- This is the MacKenzie Gore the Rangers envisioned when they acquired the lefty in a blockbuster deal last offseason, shipping five highly touted prospects to Washington.
On the day the Rangers placed rotation horse Nathan Eovaldi on the injured list with right posterior elbow inflammation -- throwing its recently bolstered pitching depth into flux -- Gore continued a recent hot stretch.
The 27-year-old struck out nine Angels across 5 1/3 innings of work, walking two with four hits allowed as the Rangers beat the Angels 4-1 in 10 innings in Monday’s series opener at Angel Stadium.
Gore’s lone blemish was a first-inning solo home run to likely future Hall of Famer Mike Trout. He worked around multiple baserunners in the second and the fifth, and would have been credited with another out had his ninth strikeout not gotten past catcher Elias Díaz, allowing Jose Siri to reach first base.
Gore owns a 2.70 ERA over his past four outings dating back to July 24, with 27 punchouts in 23 1/3 innings. His latest effort came with an extra day of rest, after Gore spent three days on the paternity list as he and his fiancée, Alex, welcomed their daughter Billi on Thursday, their first child.
While the phenomenon known as “dad strength” is usually associated with hitters who homer in their return from paternity leave, Gore nonetheless returned to the Rangers rested and in near-top form. His 22 whiffs were by far a season high -- his previous best was 17 -- and the fifth most in any of his 127 career starts.
Gore’s outing also comes early on amid a stretch of 10 games in as many days, as the Rangers open a crucial seven-game road trip against AL West opponents. Manager Skip Schumaker said prior to Monday’s game that getting a deep outing from Gore would be key.
“Trying to get Gore some length today is going to be huge,” Schumaker said. “On a long trip, that’s No. 1. [Ten]-game stretch, getting our starters to not go three-plus innings like we did yesterday is a big deal. So we have to not wear out our bullpen.”
The bullpen did its job, holding the Angels scoreless the rest of the way. But the Rangers didn’t muster much offense -- until the 10th.
Texas tied the game at 1-1 in the fourth on a two-out, two-strike RBI single from Díaz. Corey Seager nearly put the game away in the seventh, but Angels right fielder Wade Meckler made a spectacular catch at the wall to rob what would have been a three-run home run. Through nine frames, the Rangers had only five hits -- all singles.
Then came the 10th.
Wyatt Langford worked a leadoff walk. Seager’s single loaded the bases before Brandon Nimmo and Jake Burger hit back-to-back singles to bring in three runs to give the Rangers their first -- and last -- lead of the night.