MIAMI — Kodai Senga went from the brink of a big mess to a dazzling debut Sunday in the Mets’ 5-1 win over the Marlins.
In 5 1/3 innings, he struck out eight — all on splitters, his signature pitch — and allowed one run, three hits and three walks.
He wowed only after putting himself at risk of not finishing the first inning. The first four batters reached. He didn’t record an out until his 28th pitch. But after a bases-loaded, no-outs mound visit from pitching coach Jeremy Hefner, Senga looked like he flipped a switch, retiring the next three hitters to escape without allowing another run and facing virtually no further issues from there. He retired 15 of his last 17 batters.
The key for Senga, a 30-year-old rookie righthander from Japan, was his splitter, also known as a forkball or his so-called “ghost fork,” so named because it moves so much so suddenly that it seems to disappear. He threw 26 of them against Miami, inducing nine swing-and-misses. His other 62 pitches — fastballs, sliders, cutters — got one whiff.
After throwing 36 pitches in the first inning, Senga had full frames of 10, seven, 10 and 19 pitches.
Tommy Pham, batting leadoff with Brandon Nimmo out for a scheduled day off, powered the offense with a 3-for-4 day. He had a home run, double, walk , steal and three RBIs, two of which were Tim Locastro after he reached base by getting hit by a pitch.
That capped a successful weekend for the Mets, who grabbed three wins in a season-opening four-game series with the Marlins.
