Boston – Toronto Blue Jays lefty Yusei Kikuchi allowed one run in his five-inning start, but he is still chasing his first win of the season after a 2-1 loss to the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday.
Kikuchi, who took a loss against the New York Yankees last week, departed with the game tied at 1-all and was not involved in the decision. He allowed one earned run on three hits and three walks, with three strikeouts.
He ran into trouble early, issuing back-to-back walks to start the game.
“I managed to remain effective with my fastballs, which was good. I felt sharp from my pregame bullpen so I didn’t let the two walks in the first inning affect my pitching,” Kikuchi said.
The 30-year-old persevered despite putting a runner in scoring position in each of the first four innings at Fenway Park, but the Blue Jays’ bats were silenced by five Red Sox pitchers.
Connor Wong hit a go-ahead sacrifice fly off Toronto reliever Yimi Garcia (0-1) in the seventh to drive in the deciding run. Hansel Robles (1-0) retired all five batters he faced in the seventh and eighth for the win.
At Wrigley Field, Seiya Suzuki’s nine-game hitting streak came to an end when he went 0-for-1 at the plate and drew three walks in the Chicago Cubs’ 6-5 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays.
On Monday, Suzuki tied Akinori Iwamura’s 2007 record for the longest hitting streak by a Japanese-born player to start a career, hitting safely in all nine games in which he had at least one official at-bat.
The Rays took an early 4-0 lead, then a 6-3 lead before hanging on for the win. Wander Franco went 3-for-5 with his first home run of the season, a two-run shot off Cubs starting pitcher Justin Steele (1-1).
At Minute Maid Park, Shohei Ohtani went 0-for-4 with a walk in the Los Angeles Angels’ 7-2 victory over the Houston Astros.
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Source : Baseball – The Japan Times