NEW YORK -- The ghost fork arrived at Citi Field on Saturday afternoon in all its spooky glory.

There were ghost fork animations on the Jumbotron. There was a ghost fork K counter in the outfield. There was ghost fork trivia between innings. There was a new ghost fork glove.

And there was Kodai Senga on the mound, making his Citi Field debut. A sellout crowd of 42,306 turned out to see the ghost fork in Flushing for the first time, and Senga delivered with another gem in his second start as a Met.

Senga pitched six innings of one-run baseball to beat the Marlins again, just as he did in his MLB debut, allowing only three hits and collecting six strikeouts -- four of them on his signature forkball. He was backed by home runs by Pete Alonso and Eduardo Escobar in New York's 5-2 win.

The Japanese right-hander is now 2-0 with a 1.59 ERA and 14 strikeouts, 12 of those on the ghost fork, through his first two Major League starts.

"There've been a lot of new things thrown at him," manager Buck Showalter said. "He asks good questions, he's got the alert face, and he's sharp. He likes to prove people wrong -- nobody here certainly doubts him. The stuff is not a question."

Senga, who debuted an all-blue ghost fork glove in Miami last Sunday that featured a cartoon ghost holding a trident, brought out a new version of the glove for his first start in Queens. This one was a blue-and-orange, full Mets color scheme -- including a blue ghost, an orange map of Gamagori (Senga's hometown in Japan) and blue and orange stripes on the fingers.

After each strikeout on the ghost fork, the Citi Field Jumbotron showed a pixelated ghost holding a fork floating in the center, as "Senga" flashed onto the screen, stylized in the font of Sega, the Japanese video game company.

"I was a little surprised at first," Senga said through interpreter Hiro Fujiwara. "But it's not very common that a player's associated with such a symbolic mark. So I'm very grateful for that."

"Oh, it's sick," Alonso said. "When they had the 'Senga' and the ghost logo up there? I thought that was sick. And super well deserved, because he's got something that's extremely unique."

And after every Senga strikeout -- forkball or not -- Mets fans in left-center field would hang ghost fork placards over the railing, in lieu of the usual "K"s.

"I feel very warmly welcomed," Senga said about the reception from Mets fans at Citi. "Hopefully next time I can put up more ghosts."

Even the Mets' midgame fan trivia contest between innings had a ghost fork theme. The first question asked for the nickname of Senga's signature pitch:

A) Ghost fork
B) Phantom change
C) Specter split

(If you're wondering: Yes, the fan got it right.)

The Mets -- and Mets fans -- are all-in on the ghost fork, and for good reason. The pitch is nasty. Senga's 12 strikeouts on ghost forkballs are currently the most by any MLB pitcher on a single pitch type this season.

Most K's on individual pitch type, 2023

1. Kodai Senga (Mets): 12 K's on forkballs
2. Joe Ryan (Twins): 11 K's on 4-seamers
3-T. Jacob deGrom (Rangers): 10 K's on 4-seamers
3-T. Gerrit Cole (Yankees): 10 K's on 4-seamers
3-T. Nick Lodolo (Reds): 10 K's on curveballs

"You can tell the guys are drawn to him very quickly, the way he goes about it," Showalter said. "It's fun to watch him pitch. He's got an idea. He's got a talented hand."

On Saturday, the ghost fork helped Senga get out of a first-inning jam, when he fanned Marlins cleanup hitter Jorge Soler on a forkball that dropped off the table below the strike zone. Then he used it to strike out the side in the second -- all three K's came on his signature pitch.

The nastiest of them all? The second strikeout of the second inning, which made Bryan De La Cruz lose his helmet -- similar to how Senga made Yuli Gurriel lose his bat on his first Major League strikeout in Miami. That's two equipment-stealing poltergeists in two games.

"He was nasty today, he was nasty in the first start," Alonso said. "And I just want him to keep being great for us."