Baseball

Yusei Kikuchi Earns the Win as Blue Jays Beat Brewers 7-2

Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP
Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Yusei Kikuchi throws to a Milwaukee Brewers batter during the fourth inning of a baseball game Tuesday, May 30, 2023, in Toronto.

12:00 JST, May 31, 2023

TORONTO (AP) — Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Alejandro Kirk each had three hits, Whit Merrifield reached twice and drove in two runs and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Milwaukee Brewers 7-2 Tuesday night.

Brandon Belt and Cavan Biggio each reached base three times and drove in a run as the Blue Jays snapped a four-game home losing streak.

William Contreras hit a two-run home run, his second homer in two games, as the Brewers lost for the fourth time in five games.

Yusei Kikuchi (6-2) allowed two runs and three hits in five innings, snapping a three-start winless streak. Kikuchi walked a season-high five and struck out four.

Nate Pearson pitched two innings, Adam Cimber got two outs in the eighth and Tim Mayza retired Rowdy Tellez to strand a pair. Yimi Garcia finished for Toronto.

Contreras gave Milwaukee an early lead when he connected for his sixth homer in the first, but Toronto answered with four runs in the bottom half against Adrian Houser (1-1). Guerrero and Matt Chapman had RBI singles and two runs scored on Merrifield’s double.

Houser came in having pitched 11 1/3 scoreless innings over his previous two outings. He gave up seven runs, six earned, and a career-worst 11 hits in 4 1/3 innings.

Alejandro Kirk reached base to begin the second when Houser couldn’t find first base with his foot after taking a feed from first baseman Mike Brosseau. Two more batters reached before Bo Bichette drove in a run with a fielder’s choice and Belt added an RBI single.

The Brewers played north of the border for the first time since sweeping a two-game series in Toronto to start the 2017 season.