{"id":656358,"date":"2026-04-01T10:25:30","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T10:25:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/656358\/"},"modified":"2026-04-01T10:25:30","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T10:25:30","slug":"kodai-senga-delivers-in-2026-debut-but-mets-bats-get-silenced-in-loss-to-cardinals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/656358\/","title":{"rendered":"Kodai Senga delivers in 2026 debut, but Mets bats get silenced in loss to Cardinals"},"content":{"rendered":"

ST. LOUIS \u2014 Kodai Senga\u2019s relaunch was a hit, but the same couldn\u2019t be said of the Mets lineup on Tuesday night.<\/p>\n

In this version of Arch Madness, the Mets managed only three hits in a 3-0 loss to the Cardinals at Busch Stadium. The series rubber game is scheduled for Wednesday afternoon.<\/p>\n

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The Mets took only four at-bats with runners in scoring position, and Juan Soto\u2019s sixth-inning double accounted for the team\u2019s only extra-base hit. Bo Bichette, who heard boos Sunday at Citi Field<\/a>, finished 0-for-3, dropping his batting average after five games to .091.<\/p>\n

But at least there was Senga, a key piece of the rotation on whom the Mets are counting following his late-season nosedive last year. This sure resembled the pitcher the Mets saw for most of last season\u2019s first half and in 2023 when he was a National League All-Star selection.<\/p>\n

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On this night he gave the Mets six innings in which he allowed two earned runs on four hits and three walks with nine strikeouts. He punctuated the 92-pitch outing by striking out the side in his final inning.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a great start to the year \u2014 it makes me excited for this year,\u201d Senga said through his interpreter. \u201cBeing out there, I can start to deduce, \u2018What is this hitter thinking? What are they looking for? What aren\u2019t they looking for?\u2019 It\u2019s a good feeling. I am excited.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"New<\/p>\n

New York Mets starting pitcher Kodai Senga (34) pitches against the St. Louis Cardinals during the fourth inning at Busch Stadium on March 31, 2026. Jeff Curry-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

The start was Senga\u2019s first since last Aug. 31 \u2014 after which he accepted a demotion to the minor leagues and finished his season with Triple-A Syracuse. The Mets saw signs of a Senga resurgence in spring training, and many carried into this start.<\/p>\n

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Among them was Senga\u2019s velocity: he peaked at 99 mph with his four-seam fastball and averaged 97.4 mph with the pitch. It was a jump of 2.7 mph from last season.<\/p>\n

\"Andre<\/p>\n

Andre Pallante of the St. Louis Cardinals delivers a pitch against the New York Mets in the first inning at Busch Stadium on March 31, 2026 in St Louis, Missouri. Getty Images<\/p>\n

Senga recorded 16 swings and misses, seven of which were on his four-seam fastball. His forkball was used as a strikeout pitch three times. The other six strikeouts he produced were on fastballs.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe last time I was out on the mound and in the dugout I had to be thinking about my body and making sure it was going to do what I needed it to do,\u201d Senga said, referring to last season. \u201cBut on the flip side today I didn\u2019t have to worry about any of that. I can face hitters and I really felt like a starting pitcher again.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Senga struck out the side in the second, but the Cardinals jumped on him with three straight hard-hit balls in the third that produced two runs.<\/p>\n

\"New<\/p>\n

New York Mets left fielder Juan Soto (22) takes off his batting glove as he walks back to the dugout after striking out against the St. Louis Cardinals during the eighth inning at Busch Stadium. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n

Victor Scott II launched a leadoff double beyond Luis Robert Jr.\u2019s outstretched glove in left-center to start the rally. JJ Wetherholt delivered an RBI single and Ivan Herrera hammered a double, extending the Cardinals\u2019 lead to 2-0. But Senga retired the next three batters to keep Herrera, who got as far as third base, stranded.<\/p>\n

\u201cHindsight is 20\/20: It was a mixture of pitch selection and location,\u201d Senga said of the Cardinals\u2019 three hits in the inning. \u201cBut at the end of the day giving up the first runs in the game isn\u2019t always a good sign, so that is something to work on.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Senga retired eight straight batters before walking Herrera with two outs in the fifth. Alec Burleson followed with a walk, prompting a mound visit from pitching coach Justin Willard. The right-hander responded by retiring Masyn Winn to end the threat.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf he\u2019s healthy, we\u2019re going to see this a lot,\u201d manager Carlos Mendoza said. \u201cA lot of guys saw 2023 and we have just got to make sure he recovers well and he continues to feel well because that is electric.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"St.<\/p>\n

St. Louis Cardinals second baseman JJ Wetherholt, left, celebrates with teammate Masyn Winn, right, after beating the New York Mets in a baseball game, Tuesday, March 31, 2026, in St. Louis. AP<\/p>\n

Soto doubled leading off the sixth against Andre Pallante and Bichette walked. But the rally died facing reliever Gordon Graceffo, who retired Robert Jr. before Young hit a line drive to shortstop and Bichette was late retreating to first base and got doubled up to end the inning.<\/p>\n

Richard Lovelady needed only two pitches in the seventh to sink the Mets further in the hole: Ramon Urias blasted a homer leading off the inning to extend the Cardinals\u2019 lead to 3-0.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ST. LOUIS \u2014 Kodai Senga\u2019s relaunch was a hit, but the same couldn\u2019t be said of the Mets…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":656359,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2396],"tags":[1894,1181,5,88,18205,160,1556,6012,134,1716,999,1553,101,4,1690,61,2548,4203,24906,5942],"class_list":{"0":"post-656358","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-mets","8":"tag-alec-burleson","9":"tag-andre-pallante","10":"tag-baseball","11":"tag-bo-bichette","12":"tag-busch-stadium","13":"tag-cardinals","14":"tag-gordon-graceffo","15":"tag-ivan-herrera","16":"tag-juan-soto","17":"tag-kodai-senga","18":"tag-luis-robert-jr","19":"tag-masyn-winn","20":"tag-mets","21":"tag-mlb","22":"tag-new-york","23":"tag-new-york-mets","24":"tag-newyork","25":"tag-newyorkmets","26":"tag-richard-lovelady","27":"tag-victor-scott-ii"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116328972764913191","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/656358","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=656358"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/656358\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/656359"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=656358"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=656358"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=656358"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}