Colorado Rockies pitcher Antonio Senzatela takes next step in rehab; Spokane Indians fall to Vancouver 9-4

With the Spokane Indians playing at the High-A level, Spokane’s relative proximity to Denver, and the revamped clubhouse, commissary and workout areas at Avista Stadium, MLB rehab assignments from the parent club Colorado Rockies may become more commonplace. On Sunday, the Indians has their second such appearance of the season, with big league pitcher Antonio Senzatela joining the roster.

Senzatela, the 29-year-old right-hander, has had a rough couple of seasons, starting with a knee injury in August 2022. He made just two starts upon his return in 2023 before being shelved with an elbow injury that eventually required ligament replacement surgery.

Sunday’s start with Spokane marked his return to competitive baseball for the first time in 15 months. And while he was sharp in his brief outing, he was gone long before the final score.

Jackson Hornung homered, Alex Stone knocked in three and the Spokane Indians fell to the Vancouver Canadians 9-4 in the finale of a six-game Northwest League series.

The first-half champion Indians (30-18) have lost three in a row and dropped a series for the first time since May 12. Their lead in the second half over the Canadians (29-19) shrunk to one with 18 games to play. Vancouver has a six-game lead to lock up the second-half playoff berth.

Senzatela, a seven-year MLB veteran threw 37 pitches, 24 for strikes, and allowed two runs on two hits and two walks with one strikeout over 2 1/3 innings.

“I feel really good,” Senzatela said. “It feels nice to be back in games, especially with fans out here. You know, it’s different than throwing at the complex in Arizona. You feel like it’s real baseball, and it feels amazing for me. I feel my arm is feeling good, my body’s feeling good.”

Recent third-round draft pick Cole Messina, who drew the honor of catching Senzatela, was making just his fifth professional start.

“It was a ton of fun,” Messina said. “That guy’s really, really good and, you know, he’s a big leaguer for a reason. Ton of fun, good experience.”

Senzatela, wearing jersey No. 49, threw 17 pitches in the first inning, 10 for strikes. He threw mostly fastballs with a couple of off-speed mixed in later in the inning. He sat at 96 mph on the stadium radar gun, hitting 98 twice.

He got the first two batters on fly outs, then allowed a full-count walk and broken bat single before getting Cutter Coffey to pop out to end the inning.

The Indians spotted the big leaguer four runs in the bottom half. Cole Carrigg singled, stole second and scored on an infield single, Kyle Karros followed with an RBI double and then scored on a single by Bryant Betancourt. A groundout made it 4-0, prompting a Vancouver pitching change.

Senzatela picked up his first strikeout in the second, getting Je’Von Ward to swing through a 96-mph fastball. But the next batter, Hornung, got hold of a Senzatela fastball and delivered it over the tall wall in front of the scoreboard in right center for his sixth homer of the season.

“The location was like middle, middle. So, he hit it,” Senzatela said. “There are really good hitters out here in this league, and you can’t make a mistake like that.”

Senzatela got two flyouts to end the inning, then came out for the third and faced two more batters – a flyout and walk – before hitting his pitch limit.

“I feel comfortable with everything,” he said. “I should be getting better location on my breaking stuff, but I just need to keep working. I tried to see how my fastball reacted the first couple of batters.”

“I thought (Senzatela) was real good.,” Messina said. “I felt the changeup was the difference and I felt like his heater has gotten better, according to him. I thought he was pretty good tonight.”

Senzatela, who is expected to pitch for the Indians next week on the road at Hillsboro, was excited to participate in the MiLB Copa de la Diversion initiative at the park on Sunday.

“I like that kind of stuff, so I feel proud to wear the ‘Cafecitos’ jersey today,” the native of Valencia, Venezuela said. “I think I just need to keep going. I’m happy for (Spokane) to give me the opportunity to be here.”

But there was still a ballgame to be played. Alberto Pacheco came on in relief and runs scored later in the inning on a groundout and wild pitch to tie it. After a single and walk, Alex Stone lined one to short center that EJ Andrews couldn’t pull in on a sliding attempt and Vancouver led 6-4.

The C’s added a couple of insurance runs in the eighth. Messina dropped a foul pop around the plate and on the next pitch, Hornung ripped an RBI double into the left field corner. Alex Stone followed with a double to the same part of the park to make it 8-4.

“It just popped out of my glove,” Messina said.

The Indians start a six-game series at Hillsboro on Tuesday.