Kodai Senga allowed a run over two innings in his return to the New York Mets’ rotation in Game 1 of the National League Division Series. Senga was making his first start in over two months, and he was doing so in the cauldron of October baseball at Citizens Bank Park.

His first batter, the Phillies’ Kyle Schwarber, hammered his third pitch for a 425-foot home run into the second deck in rightfield. It was a total no-doubter, with rightfielder Starling Marte not moving an inch, his face staying focused on the infield, and Senga turning to look away from the action at the scoreboard in right.

The Kodai Senga experiment started terribly and ended up fine. Making his second start of 2024 and first start since July, last year’s Mets ace returned for an NLDS appearance in which he threw 31 pitches — and wanted one of those back.