Kodai Senga struggles in likely final rehab start with Syracuse Mets

Kodai Senga pitched in his third and likely final rehab start Saturday night with the Triple-A Syracuse Mets while recovering from a shoulder injury, and probably could have gone a little better.

The right-hander was stretched to 79 pitches and looked sharp early on, retiring the first four batters he faced and reaching 95 mph on his fastball. But things started to get a little complicated in the third when he started leaving a lot of pitches over the base.

He allowed back-to-back doubles and a walk to start the inning, which loaded the bases due to a baserunning error. But Senga crouched down and escaped the traffic jam, managing to Darren Baker to appear at shortstop before Carter Kieboom landed a suspended slider at third base for an inning-ending double play.

But the 31-year-old continued to find plenty of power in the fourth inning. He allowed the first two runners to reach base on doubles and singles before hanging a splitter to Brady Housewho crushed it over the left field fence for a three-run homer.

Senga’s struggles continued, allowing three more hits, a walk and two runs, including an RBI single to the Nationals’ top prospect Dylan Crews.

His final line pitched in three innings, allowing five earned runs on eight hits and three walks while striking out one.