ANAHEIM, Calif. - Yusei Kikuchi went into Saturday night needing a win.
Not necessarily in the record books, though that would've been nice too. The win that Kikuchi was looking for was more in a personal sense.
With a relatively young rotation, Kikuchi is a steady veteran presence, but had a rocky start to the season going into Saturday. Through four starts, he was sitting at a 7.50 ERA and stuck with two losses and two no-decisions. That's what made Saturday night's start against the San Diego Padres so impactful.
"Kikuchi was pretty amazing. He was throwing hard. He was using his fastball, attacking it. He took some good curveballs in there, some sliders and splits... that's the kind of Kikuchi that we're used to seeing," Angels manager Kurt Suzuki said.
The veteran left-hander set a new season-high with six scoreless innings pitched, fanning eight in the process, while allowing four hits, one walk and one hit by pitch.
Yusei Kikuchi's night is done after a bounce-back start that he truly needed.
— Jack Haslett (@JackHaslett_13) April 19, 2026
Final line: 6 IP (season-high), 4 hits, 1 BB, 1 HBP, 0 ER, 8 K (ties season-high).
He'll have to settle with a no-decision though. Still 0-0 through 6.@TaylorBlakeWard @SportingTrib
Four of those strikeouts came courtesy of his cutter, which looked like it had new life behind it, and another three came from his splitter. His velocity was perhaps the most promising development with his four-seam fastball going as high as 98 MPH and painting the edges of the zone.
Making adjustments
He credited a return to a lower arm angle for his new and improved effectiveness. Kikuchi said that he began the season with a higher arm slot than seasons past, though clearly through four starts it wasn't panning out the way he'd hoped.
"It comes down to mechanics," Kikuchi said via translator. "This season my arm angle was a little higher than usual, but I brought it down a little bit. So, I think that worked out perfectly today."
The Angels needed Kikuchi to be lights out as their bats didn't give him much security to work with. San Diego's Germán Márquez was just as effective on the mound, working a knuckle-curve that the Angels offense had no answer for.
Jon Bryan - The Sporting Tribune
The Los Angeles Angels Oswald Peraza #2 runs to first during an MLB game against the San Diego Padres, April 18th, 2026 in Anaheim California.
The Angels mustered up just two hits in Kikuchi's six scoreless innings. He left the game after just 86 pitches, which Suzuki said was because of the grind it took Kikuchi to get through six innings and felt that going scoreless with eight strikeouts was a "good building block."
Walks add up
The bullpen didn't fare quite as well in Kikuchi's absence. Ryan Zeferjahn walked back-to-back batters in the top of the eighth, his second inning of work, before back-to-back singles from Ramón Laureano and Fernando Tatis Jr. put the Padres on the board 2-0.
Jon Bryan - The Sporting Tribune
The San Diego Padres Freddy Fermin #54 runs during an MLB game against the Los Angeles Angels, April 18th, 2026 in Anaheim California.
Nolan Schanuel cut the lead in half with a RBI single in the bottom of the eighth, but a two-run ninth inning for the Padres, which featured another set of back-to-back walks, gave star San Diego closer Mason Miller all the insurance he needed to finish out the game and even the series at one game apiece.
"You give those teams free baserunners, good teams like that, they make you pay unfortunately," Suzuki said.