MacKenzie Gore was in the midst of a solid rookie season when the San Diego Padres traded him to the Washington Nationals. Almost a year later, he returned to Petco Park and dominated his former team with a historic start.

In the Nationals' 8-3 win over the Padres, Gore struck out the first six batters he faced, which is a new franchise record. He finished with nine strikeouts and allowed only one earned run. After the game, he thought it was very cool to accomplish a feat like that and thanked his teammates, including catcher Keibert Ruiz, according to Jessica Camerato of the MLB website.

“That’s awesome,” Gore said, via the MLB website. “You don’t know what the good Lord’s going to do. A year ago, I was here. But all the credit goes to teammates, Keibert. But…really cool.”

Ha-Seong Kim, Fernando Tatis Jr., Juan Soto, Manny Machado, Xander Bogaerts and Jake Cronenworth were all punched out to start the game. Gore got to full counts four times but came away with the strikeout each time. The Nationals pitcher allowed a hit to the next batter, Nelson Cruz, before getting a double play from a ground ball out of Austin Nola.

Tatis singled a runner home and put another on third base in the bottom of the fifth before Gore struck Soto out again, ending a strong performance on the bump. “I mean, the guy is talented, and we all know it. He came out there and executed. He was better [than us] today,” Tatis said of Gore, via MLB.com.

Striking Soto out twice surely felt like some sweet revenge as the Padres drag themselves through what has been a rough season up to this point. However, he has nothing but respect for the former Washington superstar.

“I like him,” Gore said of Soto, via the MLB website. “He talks some junk, and he’s competitive. I’d never played against him much, but I like him. So there was some of that, and it was just friendly.”

MacKenzie Gore's time with the Nationals hasn’t been perfect but he has improved since last season, lowering his ERA from 4.50 to 3.89 and increasing his strikeout percentage by over five percent.