MacKenzie Gore strikes out 11 as Nationals beat Athletics 3

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — MacKenzie Gore tied a career high with 11 strikeouts, CJ Abrams hit an RBI triple and the Washington Nationals beat the Oakland Athletics 3-1 on Saturday.

Gore (2-0) tossed five scoreless innings, throwing 90 pitches and striking out the last five batters he faced. He struck out the side in the fifth before giving way to the bullpen. Nationals pitchers combined for 18 strikeouts. Kyle Finnegan recorded his fifth save of the season.

“It’s beautiful,” manager Davey Martinez said of Gore’s performance. “He attacked the strike zone, he goes out there and he competes. Hopefully now, we can see that consistency.”

Martinez said he was not tempted to leave Gore in the game, with a pitch count set at 90. Gore said he understood, crediting the bullpen for closing out the win.

“I was missing bats,” Gore said. “I knew we were locating. (Catcher Riley Adams) was really good today. We had a good game plan. I was able to execute it good enough where we got into a rhythm.”