Padres LHP MacKenzie Gore pulled with apparent injury

DETROIT (AP) — San Diego Padres left-hander MacKenzie Gore exited a game against the Detroit Tigers on Monday night with an apparent injury.

Gore, a 23-year-old recently shifted to the bullpen, relieved starter Sean Manaea during the fourth inning. He threw 35 pitches and got four outs before walking off the field with a trainer.

Gore averaged 92.7 mph on his fastball against the Tigers, down more than 2 mph from his season average. He was charged with two runs, both on a homer by Jeimer Candelario.

A first-round draft pick in 2017, Gore had ranked among the game’s top pitching prospects since but didn’t debut in the majors until this season. He was exceptional early in the season, going 4-1 with a 1.50 ERA in his first nine games, including eight starts.

This was his second straight outing out of the bullpen after San Diego transitioned from a six-man rotation to a five-man staff. Gore’s 70 innings pitched this season are already 19 2/3 more than he threw in 2021, and he was on pace to far exceed his career high in the minors of 101 innings.

___

More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports