Yusei Kikuchi deals in first start in Seattle this season, but Mariners drop loss to A’s in extras
Mariners manager Scott Servais remembers the complete game shutout Yusei Kikuchi threw in Toronto last August.
Statistically, it was the best start the left-hander has had since joining Seattle’s organization last season. Nine shutout innings. Two hits. One walk. Eight strikeouts.
But, the conviction Kikuchi showed Saturday night in Seattle in his first start at T-Mobile Park this season, and the results he produced, rival even that dominant win over the Blue Jays a year ago.
Kikuchi was outstanding through six scoreless innings against the A’s — a team he saw four times during his debut year — Saturday, striking out a season-high nine batters while allowing only three hits and walking one on 89 pitches.
“He does believe — and he should believe — in his stuff,” Servais said during a postgame video call with reporters. “ It’s really good. It’s as good of left-handed stuff as you’re going to see in the league right now. It’s that overpowering. And the A’s have seen him as much as anybody starting back in Japan last year.
“They saw a different guy tonight, and I’m looking forward to seeing him pitch here the rest of the year, because he’s going to have a lot of good outings like he did tonight if he keeps doing that.”
But, as encouraging a start as it was, it wasn’t enough to earn Kikuchi his first win of the season.
Kikuchi left the game with a two-run lead, but Seattle’s bullpen gave both runs back the following inning, and Kikuchi ended up with his second no-decision in as many starts.
With the score knotted, Seattle’s offense couldn’t capitalize in a bases-loaded situation late, and the A’s pushed across the winning run in the 10th, snapping the Mariners’ three-game winning streak and handing them a 3-2 loss in their first extra-innings game of the season.
Under Major League Baseball’s new rule, the A’s opened the 10th with a runner on second base. Tony Kemp pinch ran for designated hitter Khris Davis, who recorded the final out of the ninth inning, and pinch hitter Robbie Grossman wasted no time jumping on a slider from Mariners reliever Dan Altavilla for a run-scoring ground-rule double to the gap in right center.
Seattle couldn’t match the run in the bottom half of the inning. Shed Long Jr. started on second, but never advanced. Tim Lopes popped up to A’s pitcher Liam Hendriks attempting to bunt, Dylan Moore popped up to third and J.P. Crawford struck out swinging to end the game as the Mariners dropped to 4-5.
“We just didn’t get the big hit there in the ninth to walk them off, and then the 10th-inning rule, our first go-around with it, it has a much different feel to it,” Servais said. “It doesn’t matter if we’re a fan of it or not, it’s the way the game is played right now.
“You’ve got to get big hits and execute, and we just weren’t able to do it late in the game today.”
But, Kikuchi’s outing still offered a highlight. He was dealing for six innings, and delivered the club’s third quality start in as many days.
Between Marco Gonzales, Taijuan Walker and now Kikuchi, Seattle’s starters haven’t allowed an earned run through the past 19 1/3 innings.
“This whole week I was working on being aggressive in the zone with my stuff in my bullpens,” Kikuchi said through interpreter Kevin Ando. “And then watching Taijuan and Marco go out there and just pound the zone and be aggressive really made me realize the importance of being aggressive.”
Gonzales turned the tables on a two-game losing streak with a dominant performance Wednesday in Anaheim, sending the Mariners home from their seven-game road trip with a win. Walker picked up where his ace left off Friday with seven shutout innings against the A’s.
Kikuchi kept that energy going from the moment he stepped on the mound Saturday, wiping out Marcus Semien with a cutter to open the game for the first of his nine strikeouts.
Much like they did for Walker on Friday, Seattle’s other starters cheered and swung their towels from their socially distant seats behind the dugout each time Kikuchi sat down a batter.
Despite allowing an infield single in the third and his only walk in the fifth, Kikuchi faced the minimum in his first five innings.
The only hit in those five frames came on a slow-rolling grounder from Stephen Piscotty in the third. Rookie first baseman Evan White stretched on the throw from Kyle Seager, but Piscotty was ruled safe after an umpire review.
Two pitches later, the Mariners turned a spectacular double play to get Kikuchi out of the inning. Sean Murphy sent a hard chopper back up the middle which Long snagged and flipped backward to shortstop Crawford, who was streaking toward second base. Crawford took the handoff, stepped on the bag and leaped over a sliding Piscotty as he hurled the ball toward first. White dug out the throw as Seattle’s bench roared.
“Really awesome double play they turned early in the game with Shed going to his back hand,” Servais said. “It’s a fun group to watch, it really is. It’s kind of like the old, ‘Let the kids play.’ Very athletic, they can make plays like that and I think the more they play, the more they relax, you’ll see more of that stuff come out.”
The play seemed to ignite Seattle’s offense. With two outs in the bottom half of the inning, Crawford and catcher Austin Nola hit back-to-back singles off A’s starter Mike Fiers. Rookie outfielder Kyle Lewis then walked, and Seager drove in two runs on a single to center. He now has a team-leading 10 RBI.
Lewis extended his hitting streak to nine games by outlegging an infield grounder in the first. He continues to lead the majors with 16 hits this season.
The 2-0 lead was more than enough for Kikuchi to work with. He answered the offensive energy with two more strikeouts in the fourth, and Crawford had another highlight defensive play, catching a lob off a one-hopper in front of the plate from Ramon Laureano and firing a laser to White to end the inning.
Kikuchi ran into some trouble in the fifth, walking Mark Canha on four pitches to open the inning, but didn’t let his outing unravel, striking out Matt Olson on three pitches and forcing a grounder from Chad Pinder that Crawford turned into another inning-ending double play. In his final inning, Kikuchi worked out of a jam after allowing back-to-back singles to Khris Davis and Piscotty. He struck out both Murphy and Semien — for the third time — and got a grounder from Matt Chapman to end the frame.
“I thought his demeanor tonight and how he went after it, he did not back off, and that’s what we’re looking for because he’s got that kind of ability,” Servais said.
Kikuchi finished with 20 swinging strikes on 89 pitches. He went the six complete innings allowing just three hits, a walk and compiling the nine strikeouts.
It was the first time Kikuchi hasn’t allowed an earned run in an outing since the complete game shutout in Toronto. It’s the second time in his two-year career he hasn’t allowed an earned run in a true start, not counting the game he opened with one inning for Seattle last April. He made 32 starts in his debut year in 2019.
Seattle’s lead disappeared in the seventh when Pinder launched a two-run homer off Mariners reliever Nick Margevicius to tie it up at 2-2. Though Margevicius eventually struck out the side, the damage was done.
The Mariners had a chance to put the game away in the bottom of the ninth, loading the bases against A’s reliever Joakim Soria, but couldn’t push the winning run across. Nola singled to open the inning, Seager intentionally walked and White drew an eight-pitch walk, but Soria struck out Lewis, Jose Marmolejos and Long to get out of the jam.
This story was originally published August 1, 2020 at 9:24 PM.
