Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Yusei Kikuchi (16) pitches during a baseball game against the Los Angeles Dodgers in Toronto, Saturday, April 27, 2024.
11:08 JST, Apr 28, 2024
TORONTO (AP) — Tyler Glasnow pitched six solid innings for his first win in 10 career starts against Toronto, Mookie Betts had three hits and an RBI, and the Los Angeles Dodgers extended their winning streak to a season-best six games with a 4 -2 win over the Blue Jays on Saturday.
Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman and Chris Taylor each drove in a run as the Dodgers won their second straight series after losing their previous three.
Betts tripled and scored in the first inning, drove in a run in the fourth and singled in the ninth. He has played 11 multi-hit games this season, including six three-hit games.
Glasnow (5-1) allowed one run and two hits, walked three and struck out nine.
“Everything worked tonight,” Glasnow said.
Glasnow leads the major leagues in strikeouts (53) and innings pitched (43). Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said the 30-year-old right-hander was “fantastic” against the Blue Jays.
“When you acquire a guy like Tyler, you look at him as a front-end guy who can take the swing and miss, go deep into games and win baseball games when he throws,” Roberts said. “He has done everything and more.”
Toronto has lost a season-high five in a row.
Glasnow went 0-4 with a 6.86 ERA in nine starts against Toronto, all with Tampa Bay. He left because of cramps in his right calf after Davis Schneider’s RBI double in the seventh inning. Joe Kelly came on and retired the next three batters.
Ryan Brasier scored the eighth and Evan Phillips pitched around Cavan Biggio’s RBI single in the ninth for his eighth save.
Ohtani’s RBI single off left-hander Yusei Kikuchi in the second inning came off his bat at 120 mph (199.2 km/h), making it the hardest-hit ball of his career and the hardest-hit ball in the major leagues this season.
“It’s incredibly amazing,” Roberts said.
Shohei Ohtani (17) of Los Angeles Dodgers singles during the second inning of a baseball game against the Blue Jays in Toronto, Saturday, April 27, 2024.
Kikuchi, who went to the same high school as Ohtani, said pitching to the two-time unanimous MVP is a challenge.
“It was tough for him, especially because there was a runner every time,” Kikuchi said through an interpreter. “He gets better and better every year.”
Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Yusei Kikuchi (16) throws during the first inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Dodgers in Toronto, Saturday, April 27, 2024.
As in Friday’s 12-2 win in Los Angeles, some of the 39,405 spectators booed when Ohtani came to bat. However, a group of fans behind first base started a “Let’s go, Dodgers!” singing during Betts’ leadoff at bat in the first inning and resumed several times during the game.
Betts said he was unaware of the pro-Dodgers chants in Toronto.
“When I heard the boos, I turned my ears off a little bit,” Betts said.
Ohtani finished 1 for 5. He lost his helmet on strikeout swinging at an 80 mph curveball from Kikuchi in the fourth.
Kikuchi (2-2) allowed season highs of four runs and nine hits in five innings.
