{"id":226210,"date":"2026-03-29T22:18:14","date_gmt":"2026-03-29T22:18:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/226210\/"},"modified":"2026-03-29T22:18:14","modified_gmt":"2026-03-29T22:18:14","slug":"mackenzie-gores-rangers-debut-vs-phillies-and-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/226210\/","title":{"rendered":"MacKenzie Gore\u2019s Rangers debut vs. Phillies and more"},"content":{"rendered":"

PHILADELPHIA \u2014 It took the Texas Rangers<\/a> until April 23 to score at least eight runs in a game last season. It took them three (well, technically, because of the off day, four) days to do it this year. <\/p>\n

Credit \u2014 at least in a series-clinching 8-3 win against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park \u2014 a whole heap of new guys. <\/p>\n

Here are three observations from the win. <\/p>\n

A relatively GOREgeous debut<\/p>\n

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The Rangers dealt five prospects<\/a> to the Washington Nationals in exchange for left-hander MacKenzie Gore this winter. <\/p>\n

He showed why for the majority of Sunday\u2019s game. <\/p>\n

Gore threw 5 1\/3 innings of two-run ball and held the Phillies hitless through the first five. Phillies center fielder Justin Crawford recorded their first hit to lead off the sixth with what amounted to a swinging bunt when he softly chopped a pitch between third base and the mound. Gore then walked shortstop Trea Turner, allowed a single to designated hitter Kyle Schwarber and struck out first baseman Bryce Harper before he plunked third baseman Alec Bohm with the bases loaded to drive in a run. <\/p>\n

Right-hander Cole Winn replaced Gore and limited the damage. He got right fielder Adolis Garc\u00eda to flyout for the second out and second baseman Bryson Stott to ground out for the third. <\/p>\n

Gore struck out seven batters with five different pitches and ran his fastball up to 97.2 mph. <\/p>\n

The Andrew McCutchen experience has been an early success<\/p>\n

McCutchen believed there was a \u201c90 percent\u201d chance his professional baseball career was over less than a month ago. Since then he\u2019s signed with the Rangers, earned a spot on the opening day roster<\/a> and contributed mightily to each of the team\u2019s first two wins. <\/p>\n

McCutchen doubled in Thursday\u2019s season opener, singled in Saturday\u2019s extra innings win and, on Sunday, recorded his first home run in a Rangers uniform. He hit a fastball from left-hander Jes\u00fas Luzardo 105.7 mph into left field for a three-run home run that gave the Rangers a 5-0 lead in the top of the fourth inning. In the sixth, with two outs, he reached on a double against Luzardo and scored when Garc\u00eda lost a pop fly from catcher Kyle Higashioka in the sun. <\/p>\n

The 39-year-old started at designated hitter Sunday to face Luzardo as the Rangers have platooned him against left-handers and Joc Pederson against right-handers through three games. He\u2019s 4 for 9 with three extra base hits to start his Texas tenure. <\/p>\n

Speaking of quick starts with a new club<\/p>\n

Right fielder Brandon Nimmo<\/a>, acquired last fall from the New York Mets<\/a> in exchange for second baseman Marcus Semien, made an impression in his return to a National League East ballpark. <\/p>\n

Nimmo hit a two-run home run off of Luzardo in the top of the third inning for the game\u2019s first runs and has reached base five times through three games. The 33-year-old is 4 for 12 with a walk, a hit by pitch and a stolen base. <\/p>\n

\"Philadelphia<\/a>Rangers get the best of Adolis Garc\u00eda in reunion during opening series vs. Phillies<\/a><\/p>\n

All weekend, it seemed Garc\u00eda, a key part of Texas\u2019 2023 World Series team, kept showing up in key moments against his former team.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>Texas Rangers\u2019 1st ABS challenge offers lesson on what not to do: \u2018We\u2019re all learning it\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

Evan Carter was the first Ranger to use the automatic balls and strikes system. It didn\u2019t go how Texas would have liked.<\/p>\n

Find more Rangers coverage from The Dallas Morning News here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Click or tap here to sign up for our Rangers newsletter.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PHILADELPHIA \u2014 It took the Texas Rangers until April 23 to score at least eight runs in a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":226211,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[32365,32775,102,104,103,5964,6812,154,429],"class_list":["post-226210","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-dallas","tag-adolis-garcia","tag-brandon-nimmo","tag-dallas","tag-dallas-headlines","tag-dallas-news","tag-listicle","tag-rangers","tag-sports","tag-texas-rangers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226210","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=226210"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226210\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/226211"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=226210"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=226210"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=226210"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}