Kikuchi wins season debut against Royals as Blue Jays snap 3-game skid
Toronto's Varsho hits 1st home run with new team
Yusei Kikuchi and four relievers limited the Kansas City Royals to one run on four hits, and the Toronto Blue Jays snapped a three-game losing streak with a 4-1 victory in Whit Merrifield's return to Kauffman Stadium on Tuesday night.
"Awesome job by [Kikuchi]," Toronto manager John Schneider said. "Efficient with his pitch count. [He was] around the zone. A few less strikeouts than we saw in the spring, but it was an outstanding job."
Kikuchi (1-0) allowed one run on three hits and retired the side in order three times over his five innings.
"I think I threw well overall," Kikuchi said through an interpreter. "I felt pretty good for it to be the first start of the season. We obviously had a plan, but we didn't want to overthink it. We wanted to find what was working today."
Starting strong 🙌 <br><br>Yusei Kikuchi's night: 5 IP, 1 ER! <a href="https://t.co/jZJX4vVpd5">pic.twitter.com/jZJX4vVpd5</a>
—@BlueJaysHe was also helped by his defence, with left fielder Daulton Varsho throwing out Matt Duffy at the plate in the second inning.
"We're focusing and priding ourselves on that [play]," Schneider said. "It was a great throw and a great tag by Jano [Danny Jansen]. It kind of squashed a little bit of momentum. Those things add up."
Jordan Romano pitched a perfect ninth for his second save.
Kris Bubic (0-1) worked around trouble most of the night, only retiring the Blue Jays in order in the fifth, his last inning. He allowed two runs on seven hits and one walk. He was relieved by Carlos Hernandez, who yielded a home run to Varsho - his first as a member of the Blue Jays- on his first pitch.
Daulton does it ALL!<br><br>There's <a href="https://twitter.com/DaultonVarsho25?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DaultonVarsho25</a>'s first as a Blue Jay 💪 <a href="https://t.co/sEkd0a6U73">pic.twitter.com/sEkd0a6U73</a>
—@BlueJaysThe Royals never could get the momentum back after the second.
Franmil Reyes got the Royals on the board in the second with his first hit in a Kansas City uniform, a 455-blast over the fountains in left centre. Reyes had been 0-for-6 in his first two games with the Royals.
The Jays tied it in the top of the third. Bo Bichette, Vlad Guerrero Jr. and Chapman stroked consecutive singles, with Chapman driving in Bichette. Toronto added another run in the fourth. Merrifield led off with a double down the left-field line, went to third on a fly ball and scored on a wild pitch.
