Kodai Senga drops blunt take on facing Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani
Kodai Senga had no desire to sugarcoat his experience against superstar Shohei Ohtani in the Mets’ win over the Dodgers.

Kodai Senga had no desire to sugarcoat his experience against Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani. When asked if he enjoys facing his fellow Japanese countryman, the Mets ace simply laughed and replied through an interpreter: “It’s not fun.”

That sentiment became crystal clear on Sunday night at Citi Field. Senga’s second pitch of the game was launched into the second deck by Ohtani, a 467-foot moonshot that tied him with Aaron Judge and Kyle Schwarber for the MLB lead in home runs at 18. It was a rude awakening for Senga, but also a tone-setting swing for the Dodgers in what was expected to be a marquee matchup.

Instead, the Mets flipped the script. Senga settled down, tossing 5 1/3 innings of one-run ball, and New York emerged with a gritty 3-1 win to take the series. It was the type of bounce-back performance manager Carlos Mendoza raved about after the game, especially coming off a 13-inning loss on Friday.

“It shows a lot about that group, our ability to bounce back, the grit, the resilience,” Mendoza said. “It was on display the whole weekend.”

Shohei Ohtani gets the best of Kodai Senga in Mets’ victory