Saturday, August 23

DENVER -- Beneath-the-surface, fourth-inning plays by Rockies center fielder Brenton Doyle during Wednesday night’s 8-3 victory over the Dodgers were classic examples of being simultaneously heady and aggressive.

Doyle delivered an RBI double in the second inning. His plays in the fourth did not net him an RBI, and he made it to third but didn’t score. But he helped make runs possible in the three-run inning. 

It’s the type of heads-up baseball that wasn’t happening early, when the Rockies often looked like they were trying not to lose -- and failing at that. Also, especially in the National League West during the regular season, teams flinch against the Dodgers and their starpower.

The plays didn’t come up in interim manager Warren Schaeffer’s postgame press conference. Nine hits off superstar Shohei Ohtani, which matched the most he had yielded in a game in his MLB career, and a standout performance by starting pitcher Tanner Gordon took headlines.

But Schaeffer’s eyes lit up talking about Doyle’s baserunning later.

“That’s what we’re talking about -- that’s the kind of baseball we have to play,” he said.

In the dugout during and in the clubhouse after, Doyle received the acknowledgement that matters most. 

“They [teammates and staff] always give credit where credit is due,” Doyle said.

First, Doyle singled toward Dodgers strong-armed center fielder Andy Pages. Being a two-time Gold Glove winner, Doyle figured Pages would try to throw out lead runner Mickey Moniak at third. Against the fundamentally sound Dodgers, it would have been easy to expect shortstop Miguel Rojas to cut off the throw. That didn’t happen.

Pages’ throw hit Moniak in the back, but Doyle was already at second anyhow.

“The ball not going to the cutoff and me taking the extra bag -- those are the kind of details we need to focus on,” Doyle said.

Turns out Orlando Arcia’s smash hit Ohtani on the outside of his right thigh for an RBI single that left Doyle at third and Arcia on first.

The next play was more higher-level thinking.

Ryan Ritter bounced back to Ohtani, who could have had a double play to end the inning. Instead, Doyle shuffled toward the plate just slowly enough to give Ohtani the option of throwing him out. Ohtani clutched, hesitated, spun and finally threw to the plate. Doyle kept alive in the rundown long enough for Arcia to take third.

With the inning still alive, Tyler Freeman singled Arcia home.

“I saw him [Ohtani] want to go for the double play, and that would have ended the inning had he done it successfully,” Doyle said. “You never know if he’s going to make a good throw or if they were actually going to get the double play. Once I saw him look to second, I got aggressive. I knew I was going to be out at the plate, but got in a rundown.”

Doyle’s actions embodied on the field the attitude Schaeffer is pushing in media interviews before or after games.

Understandably, he is asked about Ohtani and the dominance of a team going for its 12th National League West championship in 13 years. He speaks of them as a quality opponent. But when asked about Ohtani this week, he pointed out that the Rockies had just won three of four against a Diamondbacks team that mostly had Geraldo Perdomo and Ketel Marte at the top of the lineup in the series.

After Wednesday’s game, Schaeffer was questioned on a tangible issue. Often a large crowd can make Coors Field sound like Dodger Stadium Rocky Mountain. This time, he said, “I did hear our fans, and it’s a good thing.”

But then he made the result not a landmark game, but another solid performance from a club playing better baseball recently.

It’s an approach that will be tested Sept. 8-10, when the Rockies travel to the cauldron of noise, tradition and above all, quality baseball that is Dodger Stadium. Not only the Rockies, but the entire NL West has struggled with that. 

A split of a series at home in an August when the Rockies are miles from contention is the beginning of the beginnings.

“We're just trying to stack [good] games on top of each other,” Schaeffer said. “Stack the way we're playing on top of each other -- our effort level, our style of baseball. We believe that that works.”

Doyle demonstrated what works in small but important ways.

For any shot at significant improvement next year, the Rockies need better starting pitching -- which leads to a look at Antonio Senzatela, who will start tonight at Pittsburgh.

On Aug. 1, Senzatela gave up eight runs in two-thirds of an inning in a spectacularly poor start against the Pirates -- followed by an even more spectacular Rockies comeback. Then he went to the injured list with a right middle finger blister that had cost him fastball velocity and spin on his breaking pitches for multiple starts.

“I would just throw the ball down the middle and hope,” he said.

Even before the blister, Senzatela has struggled to find form this year -- after dealing with injuries the past few seasons. Among other things, he had a torn left anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee in 2022 and Tommy John surgery in ‘23.

However, Senzatela held the Diamondbacks scoreless for five innings in the team’s 6-5 victory on Sunday afternoon. After time to heal and two bullpen sessions, Senzatela executed his pitches at a winning level.

Senzatela, 30, is signed through next season, with a team option for 2027. Also under contract in 2026 is lefty Kyle Freeland, himself dealing with a blister. Among the rest, righty Ryan Feltner, who is currently on the Triple-A Albuquerque injured list with a right shoulder issue after missing time with a back injury, will be the only starter under club control with enough service time for arbitration in ‘26.

All three will have to lend quality and experience to the staff.

Senzatela wants to finish strong and approach the type of pitching that led to his current five-year, $50.5 million contract in the first place.

“We're feeling good as a team right now, so I need to get back on track and back to myself,” Senzatela said. “Just work hard and be ready for next year -- even finish this year strong so I can get my confidence.”

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