SAN DIEGO, CA, June 25.- MacKenzie Gore delivered another strong start for the Washington Nationals on Wednesday, but a lack of run support proved costly as the team fell 1-0 on the road. The left-hander, one of baseball’s premier strikeout pitchers, kept the Padres’ bats quiet across six innings, allowing just one run on five hits while striking out six.

Despite his efforts, Gore was quick to emphasize his consistent approach on the mound, regardless of the game situation. “It’s always zero to zero. There are times when, if you’re up two, maybe you go at guys a different way, but when you attack hitters, it’s all a game plan,” Gore explained after the game. “That’s our job. So that’s why we’re going to keep trying to do what allowed us to get as much soft contact today as we were able to get. I thought the mix was good. We didn’t throw too many at the heart of the plate. That’s kinda how you do that.”

Gore’s ability to induce weak contact was on display, particularly in a critical second-inning jam. With two runners in scoring position and three-time batting champion Luis Arraez at the plate, the Nationals’ ace knew the odds were against him. “You just hope he kind of hits it at somebody,” Gore said of facing Arraez. “And he didn’t, but we made a good play in center, and that was all they had.”

Manager Davey Martinez praised Gore’s poise in those moments, noting, “He kept us in the game every time he goes out there. On the flip side, we faced a pretty good pitcher today. Kept us off balance. His curveball was sharp. I think we had a tough time seeing the breaking pitches, and then the upshoot on the fastball got us between. But MacKenzie pitched well.”

MacKenzie Gore’s FINAL LINE:

1 ER | 5 H | 3 BB | 6 SO | 103 P | 65 S | 3.09 ERA

The Nationals’ offense, meanwhile, was stymied by Padres starter Nick Pivetta, who struck out 10 over seven shutout innings. “They wanted to pick [Gore] up. I know that. I mean, they were out there grinding,” Martinez said of his lineup. “The other guy was pretty good today. We couldn’t pick up a couple of runs for him.”

Martinez also broke down what made Pivetta so effective. “He’s got a real high angle. His breaking ball comes down very sharp. His cutter was good. He threw some cutters to some right-handed hitters, to our lefties as well. But he was around the plate all day and got ahead and finished the guys off either with the curveball or the fastball up.”

Gore’s athleticism was on full display in the sixth inning, when he recorded all three outs himself. “His stuff was really good as well. Again, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a pitcher make three plays like that in one inning. That’s pretty impressive. But he’s a really good athlete,” Martinez said. “I get to see him every day shag fly balls in center field, and I always joke around with him, we might put him out there. But he’s that good of an athlete.”

Reflecting on bouncing back from a tough outing in Los Angeles, Gore was philosophical: “We were probably going to throw the ball not great at some time. But when you look at LA, we were close to it not being terrible, and the sun came up the next day, and we had to prepare for this one.”

The Nationals managed just three singles on the day and never advanced a runner into scoring position. A defensive highlight from the Nationals kept the score close, but the bats never broke through.

The Nationals will finish their West Coast road trip on Friday when they kick off a three-game series against the Los Angeles Angels with the scheduled first pitch at 9:35 p.m. EDT. The Nationals are scheduled to send right-handed pitcher Jake Irvin, who has a 6-3 record and a 4.18 ERA. The Nationals are scheduled to face right-handed pitcher José Soriano, who has a 5-5 record with an ERA of 3.39.