Kikuchi wins first start in 45 days after 7th game 8 “I’m determined to win today”

Toronto Blue Jays Japanese left-handed fireballer Yusei Kikuchi (33) earned a valuable start in Game 7 of the best-of-seven series.

Kikuchi started the Blue Jays’ 2024 Major League Baseball regular season opener against the Baltimore Orioles at Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on Sunday (July 7) and pitched six innings, allowing one run on four hits (one home run) with one walk and six strikeouts. Kikuchi picked up his third win of the season (5-2) in Toronto’s 6-5 victory. He lowered his season ERA from 3.66 to 3.48.

It was his first start in 45 days. Kikuchi hasn’t won in seven games since picking up his second win of the season on April 23 against the Kansas City Royals (two runs in six innings). In three of those seven games, he was unable to get the win after posting a quality start, including a loss on May 11 against the Minnesota Twins after allowing two runs in eight innings.

Kikuchi was in need of a rebound, having allowed five or more runs in his last two starts (five runs in three innings and five runs in 5 1/3 innings). Facing a Baltimore offense that leads all major league teams in home runs (95) and has the third-best OPS (.753), Kikuchi was in trouble in the first inning. He struck out Jordan Westberg and Adley Rutchman on consecutive wild pitches, but gave up a single to Ryan Mountcastle and a double to Gunner Henderson to put runners on second and third. Kikuchi induced a fly ball to left field off Anthony Santander to end a tough first inning.

The second inning settled down. After striking out leadoff hitter Austin Hayes on a wild pitch, Kikuchi gave up a single to Connor Nobby. But he induced a grounder to third base against James McCann to end the inning.

After Kikuchi worked around a strikeout and two groundouts in the top of the third, the Toronto offense answered in the bottom of the 스포츠토토 inning. Vladimir Guerrero gave the Jays a 3-0 lead with a leadoff three-run homer to center field with runners on first and second.

With run support, Kikuchi walked Henderson with one out in the top of the fourth, but got Santander to fly out to center field and Hayes to strike out to end the inning. In the bottom of the fourth, Toronto extended its lead to 4-0 on an RBI single by Isaiah Kainer-Palepa.

After getting out of the fifth inning with three ground balls, Kikuchi gave up his first run in the sixth. Facing Lurchman with one out and a 2-0 count, Kikuchi hit a three-pitch curveball up the middle for a solo home run over the left field wall. Kikuchi didn’t falter after the homer, retiring Mountcastle on a straight fly to right field and Henderson on a swinging strikeout to end the inning.

Toronto extended its lead to 6-1 in the bottom of the sixth on Ernie Clement’s RBI double. Baltimore scored two runs in the eighth and ninth innings to cut the deficit to 6-5, but Kikuchi was able to hold on for the win.

Kikuchi threw 89 pitches (60 for strikes) on the day, with his fastball reaching 98.1 miles per hour (157.9 km/h). “He had a good curveball that stayed out of the strike zone, and he had good fastball velocity,” Toronto manager John Schneider said. Baltimore 카지노사이트 추천 manager Brandon Hyde, who also struggled against Kikuchi, said, “That was the best pitch I’ve seen him throw. His changeup, his fastball, his changeup, they were all sharp.”

Kikuchi added six more strikeouts to surpass 700 strikeouts in his major league career (702). He is eighth all-time among Japanese big leaguers, joining Darvish Yu (1,982), Hideo Nomo (1,918), Masahiro Tanaka (991), Hiroki Kuroda (986), Kenta Maeda (981), Daisuke Matsuzaka (720), and Hisashi Iwakuma (714). Kikuchi also surpassed 1,600 career strikeouts in Japan (1,605), adding to his 903 strikeouts in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB).

Kikuchi, who won his third game of the season in seven starts, said, “I had good command of my pitches, a good fastball, and I was able to work favorable counts. My changeup was very effective,” he said. “I had the mindset that I had to win today,” he said of his first win in 45 days.

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