The lefty got himself into trouble in the second frame, allowing a single to Tim Anderson before hitting Dane Myers with a pitch, then drawing a wild pitch that allowed each to walk. Two plays later, Nick Fortes came in when Nick Senzel’s throw was delayed behind the third base bag.
“He probably did a better job of getting rid of it with a better throw,” Senzel said. “Maybe it’s a little lacking. So that was on me.”
A frustrated Gore cursed to himself, then blasted three angry fastballs at 97 mph to end the inning. Then emotions poured into the well. Senzel and Gore traded words before Senzel pushed Gore and the two had to separate. Gore was escorted back to the cave by Jesse Winker.
After the game, neither Senel, Gore nor manager Dave Martinez related the incident to any other game. In the clubhouse, emotions seem cold; Gore and Senzel were friendly as they went with each other. The three all said they kept details of the problem at home and put it in the past. When Gore was asked bluntly if they had passed, he laughed and said yes.
“We got it in here,” Gore said. “The big thing – that was something I couldn’t do, but I’m going to leave it at that.”
“We worked in, and what stays here stays here, and that’s all there is to it,” Senzel said. “We are competitors.”
“I don’t know if you have brothers — you fight my brothers every day. That’s part of it. I like it when you’re small with each other, that’s their competitive nature. What they did after that was amazing. The rest stays in our circle. … I’ve been on good teams and all.” Everything was fine.
The tension seemed to dissipate in subsequent innings, perhaps helped by the fact that Jacob Young, CJ Abrams, Lane Thomas, Winker, Eddie Rosario, Joey Meneses and Luis Garcia Jr. all made it to third before exiting. Made up.
Young and Abrams singled before Thomas crushed his first fastball 379 feet and Ildemaro Vargas greeted him with a cartoon red, white and blue top hat (think Uncle Sam). Winker singled to center field and Rosario doubled before Meneses singled to score both. And he struck again for two more runs on Abrams’ second-inning single before Garcia’s single followed the first out to load the bases.
“They’re two competitive dudes, and I think on good teams, that stuff happens,” Thomas said before joking about the moment. “He fired me. I do not know. I thought we had a good innings after that. So maybe we need a little more.
And while Martinez often implored his team to be aggressive, it never did well: Seven Nationals batters saw just 15 hits in the third before Garcia’s single knocked out Marlins right-hander Shawn Anderson. Huáscar Brazoban is the right man in relief, making his first start since 2019.
“Suddenly we clear the air, and here we go,” Martinez said.
During the attack, Gore and Senzel are seen hugging in the dugout and positive vibes return. The Nationals (33-36) have won six of seven and are 5-0 over the Marlins (23-46). Winker tacked on one more run on a single in the sixth.
Gore was otherwise electric against the Marlins, going a season-high seven innings while allowing just five hits and a solitary run. In the sixth, he even had a moment when he fielded a soft curveball and bounced a throw to Garcia off the second baseman’s glove. Gore tapped his chest a few times to indicate that it was his fault, saw that Garcia wasn’t looking, waited a few more seconds for him to turn around, and tapped his chest again.
An inning later, Martinez ended on a high note as he made it back to the mound on 90 pitches and nobody hot. With two outs, he threw three straight pitches out of the zone to Chisholm. On the fourth pitch, Chisholm started to walk to first before reaching the plate. A strike was called, and three pitches later, Gore was the victim of the final strike as the lefty hit his career-best 25th swing and missed the game. Gore then walked out to a standing ovation.
Notes: After the game, Martinez said that first baseman Joey Gallo suffered a severe hamstring strain and will be out for a while. He did not provide a more specific time table. …
Right-hander Josiah Gray (trained right flexor muscle near forearm) made his second rehab start at Class AA Harrisburg, throwing four innings and allowing four hits and one run with no walks and two strikeouts. The plan was for Gray to join the seven-pitch arsenal. …
As the Nationals speculated earlier in the week, right-hander Cade Cavalli will throw a live bullpen session Saturday when he returns from Tommy John surgery 15 months ago. Martinez said the team will reassess his status after that, but Cavali’s next rehab start should be “pretty soon.” Martinez said he threw 95 to 98 mph easily in a recent bullpen session and it felt good. Rehabilitation work has not started since May 30.
On Monday, lefty reliever Jose A. Ferrer will throw his first live bullpen session, expected to be limited to 15 to 20 fastballs, since being placed on the 60-day injured list in March with a sprained right shoulder.