At this rate, each start in the California League could be MacKenzie Gore’s last.
The 20-year-old left-hander struck out nine over 6 2/3 dominant innings in high Single-A Lake Elsinore’s 5-0 win over visiting Rancho Cucamonga on Wednesday.
Gore (7-1) scattered three hits and a walk in lowering his ERA to 1.12 over a career-high 72 1/3 innings with the Storm (5-2, 40-35). Over that workload, Gore has fanned 101 batters, walked 17 and posted a 0.69 WHIP.
Opponents are hitting are .138 against Gore, whose four homers allowed account for almost half of the nine runs yielded this year.