Clayton Kershaw. Johnny Cueto. Jake Arrieta. And Antonio Senzatela. With a 12-3 victory over the Giants at Coors Field on Saturday night, Senzatela (3-0, 2.08) joined that rare company atop the NL wins column (along with three more starters to already notch three victories this year). It’s an unlikely spot for the 22-year-old rookie, who had never even pitched a game above Double-A before this season and had just seven starts there in 2016.
Senzatela was dominant against San Francisco in his second start at Coors Field. He allowed one run, a Joe Panik solo home run, on four hits over seven innings. The right-hander threw just 90 pitches, striking out three and walking none. The strong outing lowered his ERA to 2.08 on the year, good for eighth in the NL at the time of the game’s final out. His 0.85 WHIP is fourth in the National League.
Colorado’s offense came in threes, with a pair of three-run innings (the first and fourth), helped by three home runs. Trevor Story hit his second home run in as many nights – a solo shot off Giants starter Matt Moore. Charlie Blackmon also hit a solo home run in the inning. Mark Reynolds drove home Nolan Arenado in the first inning with his fifth of the year. Colorado exploded for six more runs (or, three runs twice, if you will) in the eighth to eclipse their previous high runs total of the year (seven), set on Opening Day in Milwaukee.
The Rockies go for the series sweep of the Giants on Sunday. Kyle Freeland (1-1, 4.91 ERA) looks to rebound from an erratic last outing. Against Los Angeles on Tuesday, Freeland lasted just four innings, walking four and allowing four hits. He surrendered just one run, though, in a 4-3 Rockies win. Jeff Samardzija (0-3, 6.16 ERA) goes for San Francisco. In his last outing, he gave up four runs over seven innings in a loss to Colorado at AT&T Park.
