PHILADELPHIA -- What a day for the new guys.
A trio of new Rangers made their presence known in the club's 8-3 victory over the Phillies in Sunday afternoon's series finale at Citizens Bank Park. While Brandon Nimmo and Andrew McCutchen each launched their first Texas homer, starting pitcher MacKenzie Gore mowed through Philadelphia's lineup for much of his debut with the club.
Gore, whom the Rangers acquired from the Nationals on Jan. 22 in exchange for five of their Top 30 prospects, did not allow a hit against the Phillies through five innings. He finally allowed his first hit in the sixth inning, when Phillies center fielder Justin Crawford reached on a swinging bunt that dribbled up third-base line into no-man’s land between the mound and third base.
Gore went from no-hitting the Phillies to finding himself in the middle of a bases-loaded jam with nobody out. He struck out Bryce Harper for the first out of the inning, but hit Alec Bohm to put the Phillies on the board -- and end his day. Cole Winn took over the bases-loaded jam, allowing just one of the inherited runners to score on a sacrifice fly.
That closed the line on Gore, who ultimately allowed two runs off two hits and three walks while striking out seven over 5 1/3 innings.
The Rangers traded for Gore, in part, to further stabilize a rotation that already had a Major League-leading 3.41 ERA in 2025.
Gore posted a 4.17 ERA over 159 2/3 innings in 2025, earning his first All-Star bid following a first half in which he had a 3.02 ERA in 110 1/3 innings. He also had career highs in strikeouts (185), quality starts (14) and WAR (3.0, per Baseball-Reference) across his 30 starts with the Nats.