Colorado Rockies pitching prospect Antonio Senzatela struck out 11 batters in seven innings for the High-A Modesto Nuts on Wednesday night but was saddled with a no-decision in an eventual 3-2 loss to Bakersfield.
Senzatela allowed two runs on six hits and a pair of walks. The 20-year-old right-hander owns a 2.61 ERA through 31 innings spanning six starts. He's struck out 31 batters and walked only nine. It has been an impressive, under-the-radar start for a pitcher who is approximately three years younger than the average California League player. If Senzatela can harness that strikeout ability that comes and goes, he's going to vault way up the PuRPs list in addition to garnering some national attention.
Shane Broyles struck out the side in a perfect eighth and Rayan Gonzalez notched four punch outs in two innings. Unfortunately, one of his strikeouts was a wild pitch that allowed the batter to reach base and later score the winning run.
Rosell Herrera led the Nuts with two hits. Ryan McMahon added an RBI double. Modesto fell to a game below .500, at 13-14, with the loss.
Triple-A Albuquerque: L 6-4 (11-16)
David Hale had his best Triple-A outing on Wednesday. That's not saying much; he allowed two runs on 10 hits and a pair of walks in 5⅔ innings. Tommy Kahnle had another poor outing out of the bullpen, issuing a run on a hit and three walks in two innings. Jairo Diaz took the loss despite notching a pair of strikeouts. He gave up three runs -- though only one was earned -- on two hits and a walk in the top of the ninth.
Ben Paulsen and Tim Smalling had two hits apiece to lead the Isotopes' offense. Wilin Rosario went 0-for-4 with a strikeout but made a nifty play on defense:
Double-A New Britain: W 3-1 (19-7)
The Rock Cats had just five hits, but four came in the sixth and eighth innings, wherein they did all of their scoring. David Dahl had the lone RBI for New Britain on an infield single. Tyler Massey, who hit a two-out double, scored on Dahl's hit after Trevor Story drew a walk to keep the rally going.
Ryan Carpenter allowed a run on six hits and a walk. He struck out six. Austin House picked up the save, his 10th of the season, with a scoreless ninth.
Low-A Asheville: W 9-5 (11-15)
Drew Weeks and Dom Nunez had two hits apiece and Wes Rogers hit his second homer of the season, a two-run shot in the third. Ryan Castellani left after 3⅔ solid innings in which he allowed an unearned run on three hits and a walk and struck out three. It doesn't appear that Castellani was injured, but we'll find out soon enough.