Despite loss, Senzatela (8 K's) ends strong

If you take away the third inning on Tuesday night against the Marlins at loanDepot park, Rockies right-hander Antonio Senzatela had a nice outing. But that third inning proved costly as the Marlins won the game, 6-2.

Senzatela pitched six innings, allowed four runs on nine hits and struck out a career-high eight hitters. That’s a pretty high number of K’s considering that he is considered a ground-ball pitcher.

• Box score

“Every pitch was working,” Senzatela said. “I had a really good command on my slider. Every time I tried to throw it, [the slider] was in a good place.”

Senzatela didn’t allow a run in the first two innings, retiring six of the first seven hitters he faced. But Senzatela found himself in trouble in the third inning, when Miami scored four runs.

The Marlins had the bases loaded when Jesús Aguilar hit a sacrifice fly, scoring Jon Berti. Corey Dickerson followed and tripled home Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Starling Marte. The pitch that Dickerson hit looked like it was going to be in the dirt, but Dickerson golfed it over the head of right fielder Charlie Blackmon. It was a slider that Senzatela threw.

“I don't know how he swung [at it],” Senzatela said. “It’s a pitch he likes to hit down in the strike zone. Sometimes, they hit it [well]. I got bad luck [on the pitch].”

Dickerson then came home on a single by Adam Duvall.

From the fourth inning until he left the game in the sixth inning, Senzatela was solid, striking out five batters.

“He had a good slider. He had a good fastball with velocity,” Rockies manager Bud Black said.

Senzatela didn’t get much run support because Marlins right-hander Pablo López was much better, allowing five hits in eight innings. The Rockies were able to take a 1-0 lead in the first on an RBI groundout from Ryan McMahon. But the lead was lost by the time Colorado scored its second run of the game. That run was scored in the fourth inning when Blackmon came home on a wild pitch by López.

“I think I was just being able to work good counts -- giving yourself good options while being ahead,” López said.

Black said López threw three quality pitches.

“He had velocity and movement to the fastball. He had a really good changeup with movement. He had a nice breaking ball,” Black said. “He has been doing it all year. We’ve seen him a couple times over the last few years. Tonight, he was good.”