DENVER — Kodai Senga paused as he grappled to answer the question.
What worked best for him on this night?
“I still don’t know,” the Mets right-hander said with a laugh after his team beat the Rockies 4-2 on Friday.
There wasn’t much to quibble with after Senga threw a career-high 109 pitches and held the Rockies to one run on five hits and two walks with six strikeouts over six innings.
Mickey Moniak inflicted the only damage against Senga with a third-inning home run.
Senga began the game with a 1.60 ERA and departed with a 1.59 ERA.
“[Senga] is an ace-type outing every time he takes the baseball,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “I feel good with all our guys, too, but with Kodai, he continues to get better. I feel he’s getting to a point now where, since first pitch, there is intensity there, the way the ball is coming out and he’s using all his pitches.”
Senga admitted that finishing the sixth was a challenge, given his pitch count.
“I did feel that, feel the pitch count,” Senga said. “The movement on my pitches were not quite what I wanted, but I was able to grind it out and get through six.”
Sean Manaea threw 36 pitches over 1 ²/₃ innings in his first minor league rehab start, for Single-A Brooklyn.
The left-hander allowed four runs, one unearned, on four hits with two strikeouts.
It was the left-hander’s first appearance in a game this season.
He has been rehabbing an oblique strain since early in spring training.
Brandon Nimmo, a Wyoming native who grew up attending games at Coors Field, entered play with a .365/.429/.525 slash line in 19 games in this ballpark.
Friday was not a banner night for the left fielder, however, as Nimmo finished the win 0-for-5 with a strikeout.
Jeff McNeil and comedian Hank Azaria will host the second annual Poker Showdown at Citi Field on Monday.
Proceeds will benefit the Metropolitan PGA Foundation and the 4 Through 9 Project.
Both groups promote education and well-being by tackling challenges related to social justice, environmental issues, overall wellness and underserved golfers.
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