Rockies rookie Antonio Senzatela wasn’t at his best on Saturday in Cincinnati, but he left the game with a four-run lead and a chance to pick up what would have been a National League leading seventh win on the young season. Instead, the Rockies will try and take the final game of a three-game series with the Reds on Sunday, hoping to escape with a series win after the bullpen could not hold Senzatela’s lead.
For the second consecutive night, the Rockies produced a big inning on offense. On Friday, an eight-run sixth inning propelled Colorado to victory. On Saturday, a six-run fifth looked like it would do the same. Senzatela departed the game after five innings with an 8-4 lead after allowing five hits and four walks, striking out five. Unfortunately, Chad Qualls and Mike Dunn gave all of those runs back, combining to allow six runs on four hits and two walks between them in the bottom of the sixth. Scott Oberg couldn’t stop the bleeding in the seventh, allowing another two runs to push the score to 12-8 in favor of Cincinnati. The Rockies could not answer.
Asher Wojciechowski was stellar for the Reds, pitching 3.2 innings of one-hit relief to earn the win. Charlie Blackmon, Mark Reynolds and Alexi Amarista each had a pair of hits and a run scored for Colorado in the loss. Senzatela had a hit and two RBIs, but it was all for naught. Scott Schebler had a three-run home run for the Reds off Dunn and drove in four on the afternoon.
Colorado and Cincinnati play the rubber match of the series on Sunday at Great American Ballpark. Kyle Freeland is on the mound for the Rockies, looking for his fifth win. The rookie is 4-2 with a 3.13 ERA in eight starts this year.
