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.
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Now, credit old-foe Glasnow for keeping them under wraps over six innings before leaving with cramps after Davis Schneider’s RBI double, and remember that the ace righty is going to 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.
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.
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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 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.
By then, though, the damage had been done, Betts’ RBI single in the fourth making it 4-0, with nothing from the Blue Jays until the seventh, when Danny Jansen walked and 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.
