The depth of Kodai Senga’s start on Saturday saved extra arms in the Mets’ bullpen during the team's loss to the Cardinals.
The right-hander ran into trouble early with four runs allowed in the first three innings, including home runs from Paul Goldschmidt and Jordan Walker. From there, Senga battled to provide multiple scoreless frames and got into the seventh inning before departing from the game.
“I don’t have much fault with him,” Buck Showalter said about his starter. “I thought he handled himself well. Very competitive outing. He got us through the game, which is really important with us being short in the bullpen. He continues to pitch very competitively.”
On his final line, Senga tossed 6.2 innings, allowing four earned runs on five hits with just one walk and eight strikeouts.
“Mechanically, in the first three innings, I was a little bit off,” Senga said through an
interpreter after his outing. “As the game went on, I was able to make adjustments on the fly.”
Showalter credited Senga’s deep arsenal of pitches and well-roundedness on the mound to work through early adversity.
“He was able to get through it with some other pitches,” Showalter added. “That’s sometimes missed about him. He’s so much more than just his fastball and forkball. He’s got a talented hand. He holds runners well. He’s one of the better fielding pitchers. He does a lot of things to keep his team in the ballgame.”
Over his last four starts, Senga has shown flashes of dominance while still working towards consistency. In wins over the Phillies and the Pirates, the right-hander tossed seven innings in both contests, allowing a total of three hits and one run with 15 strikeouts. In the other two starts, Senga gave up four runs in each start.
“One pitch can make a big difference,” Senga said. “When I’m not able to execute like I should, it leads to these types of outings.”
The Mets look to take the series from St. Louis on Sunday before hitting the road for a series in Houston.