Toronto Blue Jays starter Yusei Kikuchi reflected on his performance against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

“It wasn’t my best outing,” Kikuchi said in an interview following the Blue Jays’ 7-10 home loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday (Aug. 28)메이저사이트 at Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Kikuchi was charged with four runs on six hits, one home run, two walks and eight strikeouts in six innings.

Kikuchi allowed four runs in six innings. Photo (Toronto, Canada)=ⓒAFPBBNews = News1
He gave up a two-run homer to Jose Ramirez in the third inning and a two-run double in the fourth on four hits. He gave up a lot of hard-hit balls overall, including the first home run of the second half, but it was a good thing he made it to the sixth inning.

“I was happy to make it to the sixth inning,” Kikuchi said. I think it was a good finish,” Kikuchi said.

After giving up four runs in the fourth inning, Kikuchi was saved by George Springer. He threw out the first batter of the fifth inning, Jose Ramirez, on a fly ball to right-center field. Kikuchi was grateful for his teammate, saying, “Springer’s great play saved me.”

He also worked to get himself out of trouble. “I made some adjustments to my delivery before the fifth inning and it helped,” he said.

Manager John Schneider said, “It wasn’t the best command. I think it was a really tough battle, but he got better with each outing and was able to get a good finish. You have to give him credit for fighting hard,” said Schneider, who also praised his starter’s pitching.

Toronto is currently in a postseason race with the Seattle Mariners and Houston Astros in the West. They are in desperate need of one win for the rest of the season.

Kikuchi said, “We lost today, but we have to put it behind us and prepare for tomorrow’s game anew. The whole team has to come together as one and give it everything every day,” Kikuchi said of the team’s approach to the postseason race.

“We have a lot of veterans on this team who have been in this situation before. I’m confident that we can turn it around tomorrow,” he added, expressing his faith in his teammates.