Kikuchi shows up, bats don't

Bullpen gets beaten up in extra inning, but help looks like it's on the way

- ROSIE DIMANNO

Jays starter Yusei Kikuchi struck out nine Mariners in six innings Wednesday, four with his slider.

Yusei Kikuchi claims to go through about four books a week during the season. In the off-season, up to 10 weekly. That’s a whole lot of reading for someone who also sleeps 13 hours a night.

He might want to suggest a couple of tomes to his teammates: “The Science of Hitting’,’ by Ted Williams maybe; or “Hitting is Simple: The ABC’s of Batting,’’ by Blue Jays offensive co-ordinator Don Mattingly.

Because yet again the bats were tepid in Wednesday’s 6-1 loss to Seattle, putting an abrupt halt to Toronto’s modest two-game win streak wherein starters Chris Bassitt and José Berríos had their way with the Mariners.

But for Kikuchi, who has pitched well in his last two starts while bringing his ERA down to 2.30, it all crumbled into another no-decision despite six stalwart innings of one-run ball, lifted after 89 pitches by manager John Schneider though the lefty still clearly had more in the tank. And full credo to Yimi Garcia who followed, on the other side of Nate Pearson, with two clean innings, striking out the side in the ninth, and twice hitting 99.8 m.p.h. on the radar gun.