The Rockies’ formula wasn’t complicated, but it sure was effective.
Starter Antonio Senzatela was sensational, earning his first big-league victory and dedicating it to his late mother.
was Arenado-like, delivering another clutch home run. The bullpen was bulletproof — again.
And so the Rockies walked off the diamond at on Tuesday night with a 3-2 victory over San Diego, improving their record to 6-3.
“We could see in spring training that (Senzatela) had a slow heartbeat when he gets in between the lines,” manager Bud Black said. “There are some things he needs to clean up on the pitching side, moving forward. But he’s focused and he’s always in a pretty good space as far as in-game awareness.”
Colorado, still waiting for its highly-touted offense to heat up, produced only four hits, but three of them were solo homers by , and Arenado. It marked the first time in Rockies history that they won a game with exactly three solo homers.
The bomb to right-center by Arenado off reliever Miguel Diaz to lead off the seventh inning was the difference maker, the second time this season the all-star third baseman delivered the knockout punch. Arenado also hit the go-ahead homer at Milwaukee in the ninth inning in the fourth game of the season.
Senzatela, the 22-year-old right-hander, pitched seven innings, allowing two runs on five hits. When he returns to his native Venezuela during the offseason, he will take the cherished baseball he saved and put it on the grave of his mother, Nidya, who died July 24 at age 52 after battling stomach cancer.
“It’s for her,” Senzatela said. “I know she was watching me tonight.”
Using primarily a fastball that features late movement, he struck out five and walked only one. Working quickly and decisively, the rookie threw 94 pitches, 64 for strikes. His fastball ranged from 93 to 97 mph and when he threw his slider, it confounded the Padres. Two games into his career he has a nifty 1.50 ERA.
“He seems a lot older than he actually is, when it comes to a maturity level,” said closer Greg Holland, who notched his fifth save in five appearances.
Reliever Adam Ottavino, his slider and fastball back on track, struck out the side in the eighth. Holland walked Yangervis Solarte to open the ninth, but he escaped untouched. Holland has yet to give up a hit, let alone a run, in his five appearances.
“Everybody is pitching great,” Ottavino said. “We knew what kind of talent we had. I know we are less than 10 games in, but it’s the start of something great. It’s cool. I don’t think any of us is worried when somebody else goes in. We feel really strong and we want to keep that going.”
Senzatela’s evening didn’t start out well. On the third pitch of the game, he hung a slider to Padres leadoff hitter Manuel Margot, who drove it deep into the seats for his third home run of the season. Unfazed, Senzatela promptly struck out Travis Jankowski looking at a 96 mph fastball.
Boxscore:
“I told myself (the homer) was just one pitch and I had to keep going, keep the ball down,” he said.
Senzatela cruised through the next four innings until San Diego scored a run in the sixth. Even then, the right-hander wasn’t hammered. Margot hit a squib single down the third-base line and Jankowski followed with a single under just out of reach of second baseman DJ LeMahieu. Wil Myers’ sacrifice fly scored Margot.
Blackmon forced San Diego starter Jered Weaver to throw eight pitches in the first inning before grounding out to second base, but it was a good at-bat for Blackmon and a sign of things to come. In the sixth, Blackmon belted Weaver’s 78 mph slider into the fountains beyond the center-field wall, tying the game 2-2.
Gonzalez tied the game 1-1 with a first-pitch homer off Weaver to lead off the fourth. Gonzalez’s first homer of the season exited in a hurry, landing in the seats above the manual scoreboard in right field.
The soft-tossing Weaver kept the Rockies off-balance for six innings, limiting them to only three hits — the homers by Gonzalez and Blackmon and a double by .
