Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Yusei Kikuchi throws during the second inning of a baseball game against the Milwaukee Brewers Tuesday, June 11, 2024, in Milwaukee.
12:31 JST, June 12, 2024
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Yusei Kikuchi and four Toronto Blue Jays relievers combined to shut out the Milwaukee Brewers 3-0 on Tuesday night.
Kikuchi (4-5) gave up three hits in five innings, walked four and struck out five, posting consecutive wins for the first time since April. Kikuchi gave up one run in six innings in his previous outing Thursday against the Orioles.
Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Yusei Kikuchi throws during the first inning of a baseball game against the Milwaukee Brewers Tuesday, June 11, 2024, in Milwaukee.
Closer Yimi Garcia retired four and recorded his fifth save in six tries.
George Springer’s runscoring single in the second off Carlos Rodriguez (0-1) gave the Blue Jays a 1-0 lead.
The Blue Jays stranded a pair of runners in the second and left the bases loaded in the third before crossing another run in the fourth on Spencer Horwitz’s single, which chased Rodriguez.
Rodriguez became the eighth Brewers player to make his Major League debut this season. The 22-year-old righthander also became the 12th different pitcher to make a start for Milwaukee in 67 games. The franchise record is 17, set by the Seattle Pilots in 1969.
Rodriguez, a sixth-round pick of the Brewers in the 2021 draft, became the 16th Nicaragua-born player in Major League history and the first for the Brewers. He gave up seven hits and two runs in 3 2/3 innings, while walking one and striking out four.
Danny Jansen drove in a run in the ninth to push Toronto’s lead to 3-0.
The loss ended a six-game winning streak for the Brewers, who left ten runners on base.
