San Diego Padres' MacKenzie Gore leaves loss with elbow soreness, placed on IL

DETROIT -- San Diego Padres left-hander MacKenzie Gore exited a 12-4 loss to the Detroit Tigers on Monday night because of elbow soreness, and the team on Tuesday placed him on the 15-day injured list.

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

"His [velocity] was down some; we haven't see the [velocity] great for a while now," San Diego manager Bob Melvin said Monday. "It became evident in that inning, so we went out there, and felt it was good to get him out of there."

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.

"He'll see our doctors when we get home," Melvin said. "And we'll treat him in the next couple of days, and see where it goes."

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 appearance 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 more than he threw in 2021, and he was on pace to far exceed his career high in the minors of 101 innings.

In the corresponding roster move Tuesday, San Diego recalled righty Dinelson Lamet from Triple-A El Paso.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.