Kikuchi struggles again, Mariners bats mostly quiet in lopsided loss to Angels
This wasn’t the type of start the Mariners are used to seeing out of Japanese rookie left-hander Yusei Kikuchi this season. Usually on point with his command, and competitive deep into ballgames, Kikuchi struggled for his second consecutive outing Thursday night, serving up a season-high six earned runs in another lopsided Seattle loss.
“Tonight he really didn’t have command,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said. “It’s something we haven’t seen from him before — the walks and getting behind in the count like that. He’s usually had a pretty good feel for locating the fastball, and then getting a breaking ball — whether it was a slider a curveball — to go along with it, and really didn’t have it early in the ballgame tonight.”
It didn’t help that the Angels, in breezing to a 9-3 win, didn’t swing much, taking cuts at just 34 percent of Seattle’s pitches, right in line with their MLB-low 41.6 percent swing rate this season.
When they did swing at the the pitches Kikuchi manged to toss in the strike zone, attempting at 26 of the 73 total pitches he threw, most of the contact was hard.
“He’s been pretty good at putting guys away, but they did not swing and miss tonight,” Servais said. “He didn’t have much to miss the barrel at all, and left a lot of pitches in the middle of the zone, and they took advantage of it.”
Kikuchi (3-3, 4.43 ERA) didn’t manage any scoreless frames, and opened the game by walking back-to-back batters. Albert Pujols cashed in immediately with an RBI single in the first to give the Angels a lead they never lost.
Kole Calhoun homered in the second, and David Fletcher singled in another run. Cesar Puello added another home run in the third. And, in the fourth, before Kikuchi was pulled with one out, he gave up back-to-back singles before Mike Trout hit a bases-clearing, two-run double to make it 6-0.
“Nights you don’t have your A-game, you’ve got to find a way,” Servais said. “That’s what really separates the pitchers in this league, the guys that have long, successful careers and put together good seasons. You’re going to get 32, 33 starts, you’re probably only going to have your A-game about 15-20 of those times. It’s what happens in the other ones that really separates what type of season you have. He’ll learn from it.”
Kikuchi’s six runs allowed are a season-high, and the 10 hits he gave up matched his season-high against the A’s last week. It was also the first time in his career — 13 appearances, including his scheduled short start back in April — he didn’t strike out a single batter.
After at one point turning in four consecutive quality starts, Kikuchi’s consistency has wavered his past two outings. Last week in Oakland, he barely worked into the fourth inning, allowing double-digit hits and four earned runs in a loss.
Some of Thursday night’s numbers were nearly identical to his last start, others were worse.
“Throughout the course of the season, you’re going to have a handful of times when you’re feeling really good and other times you might not have your best stuff,” Kikuchi said through interpreter Justin Novak. “But, I have to learn to grind through the games when I’m not having my best stuff.
“That was something I had to work on last start, and it came up again today. So, I’m still working through the adjustments.”
Kikuchi is approaching one of his abbreviated starts — when the Mariners have him pitch a single inning to preserve his arm during his rookie season — in the next couple outings. The short starts are mapped out ahead of time, but two inconsistent outings might indicate the need for the break his next time out.
His last short start was April 26, and he’s made six regular starts since. His next scheduled start in the normal rotation cycle is Tuesday against Houston.
“That’s not my decision,” Kikuchi said of when the next abbreviated start comes. “I’m going to listen to what the coaches have to say to that, but no matter what I just have to get ready for my next start. There’s going to be highs and lows throughout the season, and I just want to be ready, and make sure I have my best stuff the next time out there.”
Kikuchi isn’t the only Mariners starter who has struggled. Seattle’s starters have combined for a 5-19 record and 6.71 ERA since April 27, and own the highest ERA in the American League. The shaky production at the beginnings of games has often put the Mariners in early holes, and the deflated offense hasn’t been able to climb out.
“It’s hard when you’re down in the game early, but you’ve got to find a way to kind of create some offense and get back in the game,” Servais said. “We haven’t done that in these games that we get down four or five runs, and it just kind of gets away from us a little bit.”
Los Angeles pushed its lead to eight runs in the fifth, before the Mariners scored any. Reliever David McKay allowed a single and a walk before shortstop Tim Beckham committed his MLB-leading 13th error of the season to load the bases. Luis Rengifo doubled in two more runs the next at-bat to make it 8-0. The Mariners’ error total still, by far, leads the majors at 64.
The Mariners converted three double plays in the first four innings, but two ended innings when significant damage had already been done. They turned another in the eighth to get reliever Roenis Elias out of a jam.
Brandon Brennan, Cory Gearrin and Elias each held the Angels scoreless in relief before Connor Sadzeck allowed another run on a Calhoun single in the ninth. The deficit, which was never less than five runs, was far too much for the Mariners’ offense, which combined for four hits and 11 strikeouts, to rally from.
Beckham launched a two-run homer in the fifth that also scored Jay Bruce for Seattle’s first two runs of the game. The Mariners scored once more in the seventh, when Beckham batted Mitch Haniger in on a fielder’s choice. Six of the nine players in the starting lineup struck out at least once.
The Mariners again struggled against an opener, this time Los Angeles’ Luis Garcia, and never found a rhythm against Angels non-starting starter Felix Pena (3-1, 3.42), who notched his third win, allowing three earned runs in 5 1/3 innings while striking out eight and walking three on 102 pitches.
This story was originally published May 30, 2019 at 10:33 PM.
