Phillies' Jesus Luzardo, Rangers' MacKenzie Gore finding their happy places

Left-hander Jesus Luzardo joined the Philadelphia Phillies in a trade prior to last season and enjoyed plenty of success in his first year with the team.

MacKenzie Gore hopes to author a similar story in his first season with the Texas Rangers, who will turn to the left-hander in their rubber match of the three-game series in Philadelphia on Sunday afternoon.

Luzardo (15-7, 3.92 ERA in 32 starts in 2025) tied for fourth in the majors with 216 strikeouts last season -- his first with the Phillies after coming over in a trade with the Miami Marlins.

"I'd obviously love to be a Phillie for a long time," Luzardo said earlier this offseason, prior to signing a five-year, $135 million contract extension that keeps him in Philadelphia through the 2031 season. "I had a great time last year. I really love the organization and the clubhouse."

Luzardo also had a productive spring, going 3-1 with a 2.70 ERA in four Grapefruit League starts.

On the other hand, Gore (5-15, 4.17 ERA in 30 starts) is looking to rebound from a disappointing 2025 campaign with the Washington Nationals. He also scuffled through the spring, posting a 5.52 ERA in five Cactus League outings.

Still, the 27-year-old is glad to be part of a Rangers team that hopes to contend for a postseason spot.

"I felt like it was time in my career to go win somewhere, and I'm excited to be here and the opportunity to win is gonna be awesome," Gore said.

The Phillies captured Thursday's season opener with a 5-3 triumph before dropping a wild 5-4 decision in 10 innings on Saturday. In the latter contest, Philadelphia trailed 3-0 with nobody on and two outs in the ninth inning. The hosts had only managed one hit to that point, but they rallied to tie the game 3-3 on former Ranger Adolis Garcia's RBI double hit and Brandon Marsh's two-run single.

"They kept after it," Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. "Two big hits with two strikes, never gave up. Garcia kind of got jammed on the double, but he fought and Marsh had a great at-bat. These guys never quit."

Texas went on to score two runs in the top of the 10th, including an RBI single by ex-Phillies outfielder Andrew McCutchen. Philadelphia then threatened in the bottom half but ultimately came up one run short.

"My takeaway is that these guys are resilient," said Skip Schumaker, who earned his first win as Rangers manager. "They have each other's backs. ... Obviously, we didn't anticipate going into extra innings, but the guys fought back when we felt like we were down."

Jake Burger has homered in each of the season's first two games and is 5-for-9 in the early going.

"I think back to last year, I don't think we won this type of game last year," Burger said.

On the other hand, Josh Jung and Wyatt Langford are a combined 1-for-17 for Texas so far.

For Philadelphia, Kyle Schwarber homered in the opener but then went 0-for-5 with four strikeouts in Saturday's setback. He also failed on an ABS challenge in the 10th inning before punching out on a missed call for the second out of the frame.

"It's a game of inches," Marsh said. "It's less than inches. I'm still getting used to it. It's crazy, and not in a bad way. It's kind of nuts seeing just how close those balls are to the zone, missing or barely catching it. We're all still trying to get a good gauge for it."

--Field Level Media