The Mets’ 3-1 loss Monday at the Boston Red Sox was not for a lack of effort on Kodai Senga‘s part.
He did not have his best stuff, but Senga battled in six innings with four scoreless frames after the Red Sox (24-25) scratched their three runs across the first and second.
“The first couple innings with the wind and just the environment in general, I was having a hard time executing my pitches,” Senga, who scattered five hits while striking out five and walking three, said through an interpreter. “But I wanted to go out there, stay in the game and make it a winnable game, and I was able to stay out there for a good amount.”
Jarren Duran‘s leadoff double to right field, Rafael Devers‘ walk and Senga’s wild pitch suddenly put Boston runners on second and third with none out.
Alex Bregman grounded out to second baseman Jeff McNeil and scored Duran before Trevor Story‘s eventual two-out single past third baseman Brett Baty down the line brought Devers home.
“I thought he settled in nicely,” Carlos Mendoza said of Senga (4-3, 1.43 ERA). “They attacked him — first pitch of the game, Duran gets him. But then, as the game went on, he continued to get better. I thought the fastball was really good. I thought the split was good, the way he used all of his pitches. Bases loaded there and he didn’t get a call and continued to make pitches, got out of it, was able to give us six, so I thought he was solid today.”
Duran’s two-out triple in the second inning scored Carlos Narváez, who reached base on a one-out walk, and widened the lead to 3-0, the most earned runs he’s allowed on the young season.
Senga limited the damage, though, including his work out of a bases-loaded jam in the fourth inning as he eventually convinced Mendoza to let him have the sixth.
“I felt good at that point,” Senga said. “I felt pretty confident with the feel that I had. I felt like I could go back out there. I think I was at around 90 pitches and I wanted to get as many outs as possible for the team. I haven’t been able to contribute in the innings side as much. I was able to get those three outs and it was good.”
It was a grind, as he managed just 25 called strikes and whiffs on the night, and struggled with finding his command. Of course, he did get seven whiffs on his 18 swings on the forkball, which improved as the night went on.
As the Mets seek a bounce-back game Tuesday at 6:45 p.m. on SNY, they do so with their bullpen fresh after only using José Castillo and José Buttó in relief of Senga.
“I was glad that I was able to grind through it and find six innings,” Senga, who threw 60 strikes on 100 pitches, said.
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