Starting Pitcher Makes Dubious History By Losing To Red Sox

The Boston Red Sox stayed hot at the expense of an ice-cold pitcher.

Boston increased its winning streak to six with a 10-2 victory over the Colorado Rockies. Lucas Giolito threw six scoreless innings to notch the fifth win in his last six starts, a stretch in which the resurgent right-hander has allowed just three earned runs.

On the other side, Antonio Senzatela dropped to 3-13 with his third straight loss. The starting pitcher has endured one of the roughest first halves in recent memory.

Senzatela’s 13 losses match the most by any pitcher before the All-Star break this century. Nobody has reached that clip since Detroit Tigers pitchers Mike Maroth and Jeremy Bonderman in 2003.

Senzatela isn’t getting much help from a historically bad Rockies squad that dropped to 21-72 on Wednesday, but he can’t blame his record on bad luck. The 30-year-old has a 6.60 ERA and the highest WHIP (1.89) of any pitcher who’s worked at least 50 innings.

Senzatela won his only quality start when limiting the Washington Nationals to one run over six frames on April 20. Wednesday marked the 12th time he’s allowed four or more runs in a start this season.

Coors Field can’t shoulder all the blame either. Senzatela has a 6.43 ERA away from the hitter-friendly home venue. Opponents are batting .380 against him on the road with a better weighted on-base average (.448) than every hitter beyond Aaron Judge.

Senzatela gave the Rockies a 4.42 ERA and 3.61 FIP over 28 solid starts in 2021, but he’s since gotten torpedoed to a 5.83 ERA and .341 opposing batting average.

Senzatela couldn’t reverse those trends Wednesday at Fenway Park. Carlos Narváez and Wilyer Abreu each took him deep, and the Red Sox tallied eight of their 15 hits against the starter.

If the Rockies stick with Senzatela all season, he could become MLB’s first 20-game loser since Maroth went 9-21 in 2003. The Red Sox also handed Kyle Freeland his 10th loss on Tuesday, and the 3-10 German Marquez will start on Friday against the Cincinnati Reds.