TAMPA -- The best way to measure the effectiveness of the Rockies’ defense in Saturday's 2-1 win over the Rays at George M. Steinbrenner Field is to hold starting pitcher Antonio Senzatela's stats up against Rockies and MLB history.
Senzatela yielded nine hits and had no strikeouts in 4 1/3 innings, yet didn't allow a run. In the four other nine-hit, no-run games in club history, the pitcher lasted at least eight innings.
The last MLB pitcher to yield nine hits but no runs without striking out a batter was the Padres’ Dave Dravecky on June 25, 1986, against the Giants.
The only other time a pitcher has yielded nine hits and no runs while managing no strikeouts in fewer than five innings was nearly 103 years ago on July 21, 1922, when the Cardinals’ Bill Doak worked three innings against the Boston Braves.
Senzatela, finally healthy after pitching minimally for two-plus years because of knee and elbow surgeries, thanked his infielders to a man when manager Bud Black removed him from the game.
“They got my back today,” Senzatela said.
Senzatela was bailed out multiple times, starting with a Jordan Beck-Ezequiel Tovar first-inning relay to the plate. Beyond that, Kyle Farmer fielded Yandy Díaz’s bases-loaded, two-out smash to end the second, Nick Martini threw a dart to get Jonathan Aranda from right field and Brenton Doyle made a diving, rolling catch of Díaz’s liner to open the fifth.
Tovar, in Spanish with assistant hitting coach Andy González interpreting, spoke matter-of-factly.
"That’s our job as position players, to play defense behind any pitcher," he said. "Today, it was 'Senza.'"