The Brief

Washington Nationals starting pitcher MacKenzie Gore added to his league-leading 108 strikeouts after a dominant performance against the Chicago Cubs.

Gore led the team to a 3-0 win after seven innings of work, allowing two hits and punching out seven batters.

Nationals manager Davey Martinez commended Gore’s “maturity” after escaping first-inning trouble.

Washington Nationals southpaw MacKenzie Gore continued his dominant stretch on the mound against the Chicago Cubs in a 3-0 victory Wednesday.

What we know

Gore, 26, earned his third win of the season after posting seven innings, allowing three hits and striking out seven batters to increase his MLB lead at 108.

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The only three hits Gore allowed came from the first three batters of the game. He worked around the bases-loaded jam with two strikeouts and an infield foul-out. He only allowed one hitter to reach the next six innings.

What they’re saying

Nationals manager Davey Martinez said Gore showed “maturity” to escape the inning scoreless in a postgame press conference.

“That was critical trying to get out of the first inning. We talked about it and I told [Gore], that’s maturity on your part. Things could have spiraled quickly and he made a comment saying ‘I’m getting better at that,’ he’s getting really good at it,” Martinez said.

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Gore entered the outing after an impressive month of May. In five starts, he hurled 27.1 innings, striking out 42 batters and allowing eight earned runs, good for a 2.63 ERA, the second-lowest monthly total in his career (Min. 5 outings).

Through his first 13 starts, Gore has a 2.87 ERA. He is three outings away from a career high in quality starts, at eight and has seen a 10.9% increase in strikeouts through his first three seasons.

He has cemented his name into the Nationals record book in multiple categories. He is the third pitcher in team history to become the first in the MLB to 100 strikeouts, following Max Scherzer (2018) and Stephen Strasburg (’12, ’14).

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He also recorded the fifth most strikeouts, 101, through the first 12 starts of the season, behind Scherzer, who holds the top four spots.