MacKenzie Gore beats A’s for eighth victory

If Gore was going to stumble his way home again this year, it sure would have been nice if he had been better early on. With his velocity down about one mph, Gore has a 7.50 ERA and a 9/11 K/BB over 12 innings in his last three starts. There’s always the chance he’ll get it back, but as things stand now, he seems like a poor bet for the remainder of the season. He’s scheduled to make his next start Saturday against the D-backs.

Gore gave up eight hits and only three hard-hit balls tonight, so that’s pretty unlucky. However, he also walked four, and his fastball averaged a season-low 94.0 mph, 1.3 mph off his average. He came into this one with a 2.10 ERA and a 34/8 K/BB over 30 innings in his previous five starts. Let’s see what happens next week at home against the A’s before getting overly concerned.

Gore allowed just two hits and one walk before departing a scoreless game. He’s allowed a total of four runs in 23 innings this month, lowering his ERA to 4.26. He’s currently slated to face the White Sox next Wednesday, though he could get bumped to Friday against the Brewers.

Gore pitched better against the Giants and Angels in his previous two starts, but this one earned him his first win of August. He’s now 7-9 with a 4.45 ERA overall, and he should be a nice play with a home start versus the Halos next week.

Gore gave up four hits, walked two and struck out nine. The only run he allowed came on a Mike Trout home run in the first inning. Gore didn’t work deep into the game, but was excellent with nine strikeouts. He has a 4.43 ERA this year. Gore’s lined up to face the Athletics on the road on Saturday.

Gore draws the starting assignment for Monday’s series opener against the Angels after spending a couple days away from the club on paternity leave. The 27-year-old tossed six scoreless frames against the Giants his last time out and boasts a serviceable 4.55 ERA, 1.24 WHIP and 140/47 K/BB ratio across 128 2/3 innings over 24 starts in his Rangers debut.

Congrats to MacKenzie and his growing family. He pitched six innings on Tuesday night, so this won’t impact his turn in the rotation.

Gore was brilliant at home against the Giants on Tuesday, holding them scoreless over six innings of work. He scattered three hits and walked three batters while collecting four strikeouts. The bullpen would surrender a two-run lead, leaving Gore with a no-decision despite the six shutout frames. The 27-year-old left-hander will take a 4.55 ERA, 1.24 WHIP, and a 140/47 K/BB ratio across 128 2/3 innings into a start against the Angels in Anaheim on Monday.

MLB Network’s Jon Morosi hears the same. Eovaldi has no-trade protection, which can be a big hurdle with deadline deals. If the Rangers sell, they’d be doing so while still possessing a 37 percent chance of reaching the playoffs, according to Fangraphs’ odds. They’re in a virtual tie with the Mariners, 2 1/2 games back of the Astros in the AL West.

Gore authored one of the more unique pitching performances of the season as he appeared to be on the verge of a complete meltdown before somehow locking in and dominating into the late innings. He ran into an absolute buzzsaw in the opening frame as Yandy Díaz went deep on the first pitch of the ballgame and he also served up a two-run shot to lefty-masher Ryan Vilade with two outs in the frame. He deserves a ton of credit for settling in afterwards and holding the Rangers without a baserunner over his final six innings of work. He got zero run support from his teammates and was still saddled with a tough-luck loss. He’s in line for a favorable matchup against the Giants on Monday to kick off a two-start week.