Senzatela sparkles again, Rockies blowout Cardinals

DENVER – Keep Antonio Senzatela and Clayton Kershaw in the same sentence. Senzatela dazzled for the Colorado Rockies in a 10-0 shutout of the St. Louis Cardinals keeping him paced with Kershaw and Zack Greinke for the National League lead in wins with seven.

Speaking of wins the Rockies won ballgame, No. 32 of the year which keeps them tied with the Houston Astros for most in MLB. Colorado remains the best in the National League as well.

Senzatela out-dueled another young stud in the Cardinals’ Carlos Martinez as he went seven-and-a-third allowing three runs on six hits and two walks, he did strikeout nine Rockies. Martinez has had some run-ins with the Rockies in the past where he and DJ LeMahieu exchanged words.

“After the game, LeMahieu said he thought Martinez lost his temper because in the fourth inning, LeMahieu drilled a base hit up the middle, nearly hitting Martinez,” Wrote the Denver Post last time the two faced each other. The knockout punch for the Rockies on Martinez came from LeMahieu’s best buddy Charlie Blackmon in the eighth on a solo shot, pushing the game out of hand.

The Rockies offense was stunted by a double play in the first inning after a Blackmon leadoff knock but it was a sign of what was to come. Blackmon got the Rockies on the board first with an RBI triple driving in Tony Wolters who walked. The opposite field gapper only resulted in one in the third but it was yet another two out hit for the Rockies, who can’t stop nabbing hits of that variety. The fourth inning was leadoff with a double by Nolan Arenado as he tried to keep pace with Blackmon for team MVP. Arenado was driven in by a Mark Reynolds single, who is also in the running the for the team’s most valuable.

While the offense was chipping into the scoreboard Antonio Senzatela was letting them get up and setting them straight down as he faced the minimum through five. He did allow two base hits in the stretch but promptly got double plays.

Randal Grichuk led off the sixth with a double, but Senzatela battled back. Grichuk ended the inning stranded on third. Two more baserunners got on, one in the seventh and one in the eighth, Senzatela’s old friend double play retired each Cardinal threat. While Senzatela looked to be in line for a complete game throwing only 97 pitches the Rockies decided to hand the ball to their bullpen.

It looked like Greg Holland would be in line for another save. Until the Rockies exploded in the eighth. With one out Charlie Blackmon started it with a solo shot, then the Rockies jumped on the Cardinals bullpen. A LeMahieu single followed by an Arenado double and a Mark Reynolds — who is making his own case for MVP — homer amounted in a foursome. Then Ian Desmond kept it rolling with a single and Trevor Story doubled to drive him in then Tony Wolters singled and Gerardo Parra doubled him in. This brought up Blackmon with a chance to cycle. He hit a line drive into the outfield but halted at first. All in all the inning saw nine hits and eight runs and an easy night for the Rockies bullpen.