The 26-year-old southpaw piled up eight strikeouts on the evening while allowing only one base on balls. All of the damage done against him came in the fifth inning as Ryan O’Hearn and Cedric Mullins each had run-scoring singles. Gore generated 14 swings and misses on 99 pitches on the night — six of those on his slider — while registering a CSW of 26 percent. Now 2-3 on the season, he’ll carry a strong 3.34 ERA, 1.14 WHIP and a 53/9 K/BB ratio (35 innings) into Tuesday’s divisional battle against the Phillies in Philadelphia.

Gore tossed a scoreless first inning before serving up a two-run homer to Mickey Moniak in the second. He then settled in nicely, tossing four more scoreless innings. The 26-year-old right-hander struck out 13 batters on the day on a whopping 28 whiffs. It was his second 13-strikeout performance on the season. Gore will take a 3.41 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, and a 45/8 K/BB ratio across 29 innings into a home start against the Orioles on Thursday.

The game will be made up Sunday with a split doubleheader. MacKenzie Gore and Chase Dollander were scheduled to start for the Nats and Rockies, respectfully, and both will all-but-assuredly make starts later in the weekend instead.