Earlier this season, Washington’s manager Davey Martinez expressed some concern about MacKenzie Gore controlling his emotions on the mound when he went up against the San Diego Padres who traded him to D.C. last August, in the deadline deal that sent Juan Soto out west.
“We just got to control is heartbeat a little bit, and hopefully today he just settles down early and gets the outs we need,” Martinez said.
Gore struggled a bit the first time out against his former team, giving up seven hits, four walks, and three runs in just 4 2⁄3 inning pitched, over which he threw 103 pitches (60 of them for strikes).