TORONTO — Yusei Kikuchi definitely dialled it up a notch for Shohei Ohtani and the Los Angeles Dodgers. Eight of the 11 hardest pitches he’s thrown this season came during the six innings of grind the National League West leaders put him through, including the top three. No. 1, a 98.2 m.p.h. fastball, is tied for the fourth-hardest pitch he’s thrown in the majors. At 97.9 m.p.h., Nos. 2 and 3 weren’t far behind. This was airing it out, defined.
Yet once again for the Toronto Blue Jays in this increasingly difficult stretch, more continues to be less. That 98.2 m.p.h. heater was turned around at 119.2 m.p.h. by Ohtani for an RBI single in the second inning, the hardest ball hit by anyone so far this season and ever by the two-way superstar. Those 97.9 fastballs were fouled off. Another at 97.8 was driven 346 feet by Freddie Freeman for a sacrifice fly in the first that opened the scoring.
Kikuchi was far from alone in going all out.
Daulton Varsho tried to energize the Blue Jays by laying out for a Mookie Betts liner on the game’s fifth pitch, only for it to touch green a few feet in front of him and skip toward the wall for a triple. Ernie Clement tried to ambush a first-pitch heater from Tyler Glasnow right after replay extended the second by detecting catcher’s interference on Cavan Biggio, only to roll over it for an inning-ending groundout. Bo Bichette made a great sliding grab and throw to nab Teoscar Hernandez at first to end the seventh and save a run, but at the plate just missed crushing Glasnow fastballs in the first and fifth, producing 663 feet of out.
And so it went for the Blue Jays in a 4-2 setback to the Dodgers on Saturday, their fifth straight loss, sixth in seven games and 19th consecutive outing with five runs scored or less.
Everybody is trying to make a difference. No one has managed to just yet.
“Obviously I wanted to be that guy to end this streak by pitching well but didn’t really get off to a good start in the first couple innings,” Kikuchi said through interpreter Yusuke Oshima. “Later on, I felt that I should have used that curveball more, but I think I can learn from this game and take it to the next start.”
Now, credit old-foe Glasnow for keeping the Blue Jays under wraps over six innings before leaving with cramps after Davis Schneider’s RBI double in the seventh, and remember that the ace righty is going to that do this to most teams this year.
Still, the Blue Jays have scored nine times during their current losing streak and managed just three hits Saturday. Despite two long outs and another liner right to Betts at second base, Bichette finished 0-for-4 while Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who ripped a double in the third inning to end an 0-for-8 rut, struck out in his other three at-bats.
Whatever approach the pivotal duo and their teammates try right now — be aggressive and attack early, be patient and grind — nothing seems to work.
“I feel like guys at the top of our order are taking better swings. That’s what we want,” said manager John Schneider. “They don’t want to be scuffling. They want to be a big part of the team, which they are. But the fact they’re taking good swings, I think that’s kind of the silver lining. And then on down the order, guys are doing the same thing between, (Danny Jansen) Schneid, Varsh, it’s getting there, you know what I mean? It’s going to take one big hit or two, or game or two to get rolling hopefully.”
At other points during this extended dry spell since they scored eight times in a 9-8 loss at the Yankees on April 6, the Blue Jays have created opportunities but not fulfilled them, with only 26 per cent of their baserunners coming around, fourth lowest in the majors. Glasnow didn’t even give them that, walking three while Biggio reached on the interference.
They finished 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position.
“We’re not generating much traffic and not getting hits when we have men on – that’s basically it,” said Schneider. “You look at the last five in a vacuum, it hasn’t been going our way. But before that, you lose sight of the fact that you win four series in a row and you’re grinding out starters and still not getting the big hit. So it gets a little bit magnified right now. But confident it will turn.”
The contrast with the Dodgers, meanwhile, was stark, even with Kikuchi pedal-to-the-metal.
They were ready for everything Kikuchi had to offer, with four hits on his fastballs, three on his slider, and one each on his curveball and changeup.
This one will sting for the left-hander all the more given that it was against Ohtani, who followed him at Hanamaki Higashi high school in Iwate, Japan. Kikuchi who admitted to having “a little extra adrenaline” for the matchups, got him on a grounder to second in the first – turning the boos for the slugger from the crowd of 39,405 into cheers – gave up that laser single in the second and then made him flail at a curveball in the fifth for a strikeout.
“It was tough facing him, especially because there was a runner on every time, it made it that much more difficult,” Kikuchi said of the showdowns with Ohtani. “He’s getting better and better every year. Main focus in the matchup with him was just not to give up the big hit like a home run. …
“I think I threw my best fastball there, this year, but the exit velo off his bat came out pretty good, as well. He got the best of me there. But glad I was able to get him out after that.”
By then, though, the damage had been done. Freeman’s sac fly opened the scoring, Chris Taylor’s RBI single coming before Ohtani’s base hit in the second and Betts’ RBI single in the fourth made it 4-0.
The Blue Jays didn’t manage a response until the seventh when Jansen walked and Davis Schneider’s double put them on the board. They didn’t threaten again until the ninth when Schneider reached second on a two-out error by Evan Phillips and Biggio cashed him in with a base hit before Isiah Kiner-Falefa, who had to pitch the ninth inning of Friday’s 12-2 drubbing, flew out to end it.
“There are ups and downs, throughout the season, but there are a lot of veterans out there that have been through that,” said Kikuchi. “It’s just about timing. We’re just in a bad stretch right now. Guys like Bo and Vladdy, they’ve been through this as well. Confident those guys will pick it up soon. But today, because our offence is struggling, didn’t want to give up that first run but I ended up giving up that first run. Feel a little bad. But let’s regroup and focus on the next start.”
The same goes for a lineup that will seek to avoid a sweep Sunday behind Kevin Gausman.
