Yusei Kikuchi (32-Toronto Blue Jays) failed to win another 10 games. He pitched well but couldn’t get the win.
Kikuchi pitched five innings of three-hit ball (one homer), one walk, eight strikeouts, and one earned run against the Kansas City Royals at Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on September 9. He threw 88 pitches.메이저사이트
However, with his team down 0-1, he was pulled and did not get the win.
Kikuchi hasn’t added a win since March 3 against the Baltimore Orioles. It was his sixth attempt, but he failed to reach the 10-win plateau again.
Kikuchi became teammates with Ryu Hyun-jin, 36, when he signed a three-year, $36 million contract with Toronto ahead of the 2022 season.
Here’s how Kikuchi pitched on the day. Kikuchi got off to a good start in the first inning, getting Maikel Garcia to fly out to shortstop and then retiring Bobby Witt Jr. and Salvador Perez on consecutive pitches.
In the second inning, he allowed a run. After striking out leadoff hitter M.J. Melendez, he gave up a walk to Nelson Velezquez. He then induced Freddy Fermin to fly out to shortstop to put out the fire.
He seemed to settle down again in the third, getting a grounder and a strikeout to get two outs. But then Kikuchi gave up a solo shot to Dilon Blanco. On a 2-2 pitch count, he hit a five-pitch 84-mph curveball. It was Blanco’s second arch of the season. The hit didn’t rattle Kikuchi. He got Maikel Garcia to ground out to third to end the inning.
In the fourth inning, he gave up a leadoff single to Perez. Melendez walked and Velez induced an infield grounder to end the inning.
Kikuchi’s final inning, the fifth, was just as good, and arguably the highlight of his outing. He gave up a leadoff single to Freddy Fermen, but retired the next three batters in a row – Nick Loftin, Kyle Isbell, and Blancozzi.
After a perfect sixth inning, Kikuchi turned the mound over to Jordan Hicks.
The bats came alive for Kikuchi. As soon as Kikuchi went down, they scored. They tied the game in the sixth inning. Kevin Kiermaier led off with a triple. George Springer grounded out to shortstop, but Beau Bissett came through with the tying run.
That’s when Kikuchi’s loss was erased. After scoring a run in the top of the seventh, Toronto exploded for four runs in the bottom half of the inning. Kikuchi’s day would have been better if the bats had come out sooner.
“My command was good from the first inning, and I threw my slider for strikes. By the fifth inning, he had struck out eight batters. However, he couldn’t get any run support from the bats and gave way to Hicks in the sixth inning.”