The rather stressful four innings saw him throw 87 pitches while allowing five hits, walking three and striking out six, and given that he’s yet to throw 100 pitches this season, he wasn’t allowed to go back out for the fifth. Senga’s ERA rose slightly to 1.38 today. He’ll face the Diamondbacks again, this time in Arizona, next week.

The Nationals stacked their lineup with eight left-handed batters and Senga still managed to cut right through them. He didn’t force tons of swings-and-misses, but consistently challenged the opposing hitters and rarely fell behind in the count. There was a point from the third inning after CJ Abrams hit a run-scoring triple with no outs where Senga stranded him on third and went on to retire 11 batters in a row. He seemed to hit a stride in those middle innings too. His fastball reached 98 mph for the first time this season and his patented ghost fork was dancing below the zone. He also meaningfully introduced his sinker in this game for the first time all season. The only problem was a lack of run support. He now has a sterling 1.26 ERA on the season and will look to stay on track in his next scheduled start against the Diamondbacks.

Senga was excellent against the Cardinals, blanking them into the sixth. He stranded two runners in the second inning, then was relieved with two runners on and two outs in the sixth at 89 pitches. He struck out four. The 32-year-old right-hander has not allowed a run in three straight starts, taking a 0.79 ERA, 0.97 WHIP, and a 20/7 K/BB ratio across 22 2/3 innings into a road matchup against the Nationals on Friday.

Senga only had four strikeouts today, but despite giving up 11 hard-hit balls, he had it pretty easy throughout. The A’s managed only five total bases off him and helped him out with a couple of double play balls. Senga is now 2-1 with a 1.06 ERA. His next start will come either Friday or Saturday against the Cardinals; his turn is due Friday, but the Mets don’t like to pitch him on four days’ rest and could opt for a spot start sometime this week.