Senzatela 'competing hard' as he prepares for big things next year

LOS ANGELES -- Right-hander Antonio Senzatela has been through it before -- the Dodgers obliterating accomplishments and snatching away dreams. The best that can be said is it often ends colorfully, like in Sunday afternoon’s 6-5 defeat at Dodger Stadium.

The ninth inning started and ended with Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts homering back to back off Seth Halvorsen, which meant he could not extend the glow of his first Major League save on Saturday night. Thus ended the Rockies’ chance for their first series victory at Chavez Ravine since they took two of three from Aug. 27-29, 2021.

Senzatela had five strong innings, and a chance at his first win since June 19, 2022, reduced to springboard-for-2025 status.

But Senzatela, who’s spent the better part of the last two years recovering from left knee surgery and then Tommy John surgery, knows he and the Rockies have had their day before, and they plan on having it again.

“Hey, it’s part of baseball,” Senzatela said. “Some days you win, some days you lose. Just have to keep going.”

The Dodgers overcame a 5-1 deficit with the aid of three homers off young relievers -- Kiké Hernández for two runs off Jaden Hill in the seventh and the prodigious pair off Halvorsen in the ninth. But they missed opportunities to add on in the fifth and sixth, which could have given the relievers more leeway.

“That’s the frustrating thing for the group, the lack of tacking on,” manager Bud Black said. “We had a 5-1 lead, and we had a chance to really widen it and didn’t.”

If the Dodgers stave off the Padres and win the National League West for the 11th time in 12 years, Sunday will go down as a magic moment for them. As for the Rockies (60-96), Senzatela’s performance in his second start since returning from the elbow surgery was another baby step toward their aspirations of winning the division for the first time in their history, or at least making the postseason sooner than later.

Coming off three innings at home against the Diamondbacks in his first start since last May 10, Senzatela went five innings against the Dodgers, holding them to a Teoscar Hernández fourth-inning leadoff homer, and left with a 4-1 lead.

Senzatela was a mainstay of the Rockies’ rotation during postseason trips in 2017 and ’18, and even had a solid start in the ‘18 NL Division Series (a 3-2 Colorado loss at Milwaukee in Game 1). He was nowhere near as sharp as then.

However, he forced double-play grounders from Freddie Freeman in the first and third innings, and Tommy Edman in the second. All were with his uncommon staple pitch, a four-seam fastball that against Freeman was at the bottom of the zone -- where most pitchers use their sinker. He went high to force Edman’s weak contact.

“It feels really good overall,” Senzatela said. “My arm is really good. My pitches worked better than the last time. I kept more balls on the ground.”

Senzatela has one more start, which will be at home against the Dodgers in the final series of the season. He and his fellow starters have provided a preview of what the Rockies hope will be a big year.

Kyle Freeland has been effective in the season’s final weeks, and the hope is Germán Márquez will be healthy after an unsuccessful comeback from Tommy John. Add to that the improving, maybe even blossoming, Ryan Feltner and (pending arbitration decisions) Austin Gomber and Cal Quantrill, there could be a veteran flavor. Prospects Chase Dollander (the Rockies’ No. 2 prospect and No. 20 overall, per MLB Pipeline), Sean Sullivan (Rockies No. 10), Carson Palmquist (No. 14) and Gabriel Hughes (No. 22, as he returns from Tommy John surgery) are on the horizon.

In 2025, Senzatela will be in the fourth season of a five-year, $50.5 million contract with a 2027 option, and will compete to regain his place in a potential rarity -- a deep Rockies rotation.

“All his pitches were in effect today, the fastball, curve, slider and changeup,” Black said. “Maybe not as sharp as we’ve seen it, but still that’s expected coming back from the long haul of Tommy John and even going back to the ACL.

“It was good to see him out there competing hard, which he does, and making pitches.”