Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

Coming off his first loss of the year, Kodai Senga bounced back with a strong outing against the Rockies. The right-hander tossed six shutout innings, allowing just two hits while striking out four and throwing a season-high 101 pitches.

Senga struggled with control early – issuing four walks in the first three innings, all of which came with two outs. He walked Kris Bryant and C.J. Cron in the first inning before getting Elias Díaz to line out to Jeff McNeil to end the inning. In the third inning, Senga walked Jurickson Profar and Bryant but escaped the inning unscathed after getting Cron to fly out to Brandon Nimmo.

In the fourth inning, Senga allowed a two-out single to Randal Grichuk for the first Colorado hit of the night but avoided damage when Harold Castro grounded into a fielder’s choice. After a clean fifth inning, Senga allowed a two-out single to Díaz in the sixth, before getting a ground out from Ryan McMahon to end his outing.

“He was doing a really good job pounding the zone and that made his splitter effective, and he was using his cutter well,” Nimmo told Steve Gelbs after the game. “I think he did a great job and it’s something he can build off of and as long he’s healthy, I’m happy.”

Senga’s fastball velocity was up noticeably, averaging 96.8 miles per hour, compared to his season mark of 95.9. Furthermore, Senga threw a 99.8 MPH pitch in the first inning, which is the hardest pitch he’s thrown this season. Senga’s forkball was sharp as well, generating six whiffs on nine swings. Three of Senga’s four strikeouts were on the forkball, with the other one coming on a high fastball.

“I thought he had better command of his fastball, just was solid. Split was there some, not quite where I think he can be,” Buck Showalter said in his postgame interview.

Senga also threw his cutter 24 times and his sweeper 10 times. While he only generated one swing-and-miss on his cutter, he was able to generate nine outs with the pitch.

“He has enough secondary pitches. I thought he got a little better as the outing went along,” Showalter said.

Senga told reporters through his interpreter that he still wants to improve on limiting walks, but he was happy to play the role of a stopper.

“A lot of walks and a lot of balls, so a lot of places to criticize. I know we were on a bit of a losing streak, so I’m glad I was able to stop that,” Senga said. “L’s don’t look good for this team. We don’t deserve L’s. We shouldn’t lose. That was just what I had in mind. To be able to contribute to a win was big for me.”

Senga improved to 4-1 on the season and lowers his season ERA to 3.38. This is also the second time he’s been able to complete six innings – the only pitcher in the starting rotation to do so multiple times this season. Senga’s next start is currently lined up for next Friday against the Nationals in Washington D.C.