Baseball

Yusei Kikuchi, Four Blue Jays Relievers Combine to Shut Out Brewers 3-0

AP Photo/Morry Gash
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 to record consecutive wins for the first time since April. Kikuchi gave up one run in six innings in his previous outing on Thursday against the Orioles.

AP Photo/Morry Gash
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 got four outs to record his fifth save in six tries.

George Springer’s run-scoring 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 pushing across another run in the fourth on Spencer Horwitz’s base hit, which chased Rodriguez.

Rodriguez became the eighth Brewers player to make their major league debut this season. The 22-year-old righthander also became the 12th different pitcher to make a start for Milwaukee through 67 games. The franchise record is 17 set by the Seattle Pilots in 1969.

A sixth-round pick of the Brewers in the 2021 draft, Rodriguez became the 16th Nicaraguan-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 home winning streak for the Brewers, who left 10 runners on base.