Antonio Senzatela shows off new self in Rockies series win over Padres

The Colorado Rockies improved to 6-2 thanks to another full-team win over the San Diego Padres on Sunday afternoon, completing the series win.

The offense scored early and often, the starter was fantastic, and the bullpen bent but did not break in the 9-6 victory.

Player of the Game: Antonio Senzatela

He looks like a whole new pitcher, as we expected he just might.

Senzatela employed his signature fastball and newfound breaking pitches to remarkable effect, allowing just one base hit as he cruised through the first five innings against the Padres lineup with remarkable efficiency.

To lead off the sixth, Jake Cronenworth got a rare mistake and hammered a triple into the left-center field gap. Senzatela managed to strike out Fernando Tatis Jr. and Trent Grisham with filthy breaking balls and it looked like he had done the same to Manny Machado to avoid any damage at all.

But the first base umpire ruled that Machado held up on a check swing against a slider in the dirt and Senza hung the next one. The Padres third baseman pulled it down the left-field line for a double, driving in the Padres first run of the game to make it 3-1.

He maybe lost the feel for just a moment in a walk to Tommy Pham but got Greg Garcia to pop up to keep things from unravelling against the heart of the lineup.

That finished off his afternoon with 6 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, and 6 K on 86 pitches.

Runner Up: Daniel Murphy

In the bottom of the second, Daniel Murphy took a breaking ball low and away from him and hooked it up and just barely over the high wall in right field for his first home run of the season.

Murphy singled to lead off the fourth and Matt Kemp goes yard on a 1-2 pitch, his second homer in as many games of calling Coors Field home.

He also singled to left to start the bottom of the sixth and once again trotted around the bases, this time on a round-tripper from Ryan McMahon. It was Mac’s first longball of the season and it was an impressive one, coming against a side-arming lefty reliever Tim Hill and launching 427 feet out to centerfield on a pitch away from him.

Purchasing Insurance

On a day when it was announced that presumed closer Scott Oberg may not be available at all this season, and that interim closer Wade Davis has been shut down with a shoulder strain, the Rockies were not content to hang onto a solid lead and rose up with a four-run bottom of the seventh.

Chris Owings got things started with his fourth single in the last two games and he moved to third on a base hit from Tony Wolters who was thrown out (and softly clotheslined) trying for a double.

David Dahl singled him in, Trevor Story walked, and Charlie Blackmon smashed a double off the well in left to score them both. Blackmon then hustled home on an infield hit from Murphy who legged out a grounder up the middle. It is the second time this year Colorado has plated a run from second on an infield hit, catching their opponents off-guard and being extra aggressive.

Diamond Details

• With a run scored on the Blackmon double, Story has nine on the year, tied for second place.
• Daniel Bard pitched a clean inning with a strikeout on 12 pitches in the seventh, lowering his ERA to 3.81
• In his season debut, lefty James Pazos allowed a double to Tatis Jr. and a single to Pham to bring in a run. After walking Greg Garcia, Carlos Estevez came on with the bases loaded and two outs and surrendered a triple off the wall in right to Wil Myers, making it a 9-5 game.

What’s Next

The Rockies are right back at it at Coors Field on Monday night and for the first time this season will hand the ball to their fifth rotation starter, Chi Chi Gonzalez. The starter for the San Francisco Giants has not yet been announced. First pitch at 6:40 Mountain Time. It’s the start of a four-game set.