Kikuchi's 1st visit to Bronx a winner

NEW YORK -- In an effort to keep Yusei Kikuchi healthy, the Mariners may have unlocked the keys to a dominant new left-hander in their rotation.

For the second straight game since pitching an abbreviated one-inning outing to limit his workload this first season in the Majors, Kikuchi looked outstanding. The 27-year-old rookie threw 7 2/3 innings of one-run ball with just three hits allowed in Seattle’s 10-1 victory over the Yankees on Wednesday night.

• Box score

“I was able to work on my slider in that short start, and it really did break for me,” Kikuchi said through translator Jason Novak. “I made that adjustment during that start, and these last two games it’s been my out pitch, and it’s been awesome.”

Ryon Healy supplied plenty of support for Kikuchi with a 4-for-5 night that included a two-run homer and three doubles. His 16 doubles on the season are the most in the American League and exceed his total of 15 for all of 2018. The only other player in Mariners history with three doubles and a home run in the same game was Ken Griffey Jr., in 1998 against the Rockies.

Kikuchi didn’t allow a hit until Mike Tauchman’s one-out single in the sixth, retiring 16 straight batters after a leadoff walk to DJ LeMahieu. Having retired the last 10 batters he’d faced in his previous start, in Cleveland, Kikuchi’s stretch totaled 26 outs and one walk in 27 at-bats over the two games.

Kikuchi took no-hitters into the ninth inning twice in Japan before giving up hits, so it wasn’t prominent on his mind as the game played out on the anniversary of James Paxton’s no-hitter for the Mariners last year in Toronto.

“I wasn’t really thinking about it,” he said with a smile. “But also I wasn’t thinking about going out there and going six innings with three runs either.”

Kikuchi, who signed with Seattle last winter as a free agent out of Japan, was making just his ninth Major League start and had just one prior victory to his name. But he has pitched better than his 2-1 record and 3.54 ERA might indicate, given that the bullpen relinquished leads he held in his first four outings.

“More than anything, his confidence is growing,” manager Scott Servais said. “He’s getting comfortable with his teammates, his catchers, the scouting reports, the league, knowing who he is and trusting his stuff. There’s always that ‘Do I belong?’ [feeling] with any young pitcher or rookie that comes into the league. It takes them a little while. He’s certainly feeling comfortable right now, and it’s awesome to see.”

The Mariners limited Kikuchi to the one-inning start on April 26, and he returned from that short stint to allow just one run on three hits in yet another no-decision in a 2-1 loss at Cleveland last Friday.

After realizing early on Wednesday that he didn’t have the same fastball command or sizzle that highlighted his previous start, Kikuchi began using more of his off-speed arsenal and it worked to near perfection against the aggressive Yankees hitters.

"That first inning, I wasn’t doing my best, and things weren’t really going my way, pitch-wise,” he said. “But then I was able to adjust and use my curve and slider, so I was very proud of that.”

Servais has been impressed with how Kikuchi has immersed himself into his new culture and embraced the opportunity to meet new people and challenges. His latest effort was taming the emotions that came with pitching in Yankee Stadium for the first time.

“This is the place where all the history of baseball is the center point, at Yankee Stadium,” Kikuchi said. “And I felt that going out there. It was amazing.”

Plenty of help this time

The Mariners needed Kikuchi’s strong start, as they’d opened their 10-game road trip with a 1-4 record and had lost 17 of their last 23 since getting off to the Majors' hottest start, at 13-2.

But they came out swinging on Wednesday against Yankees starter Jonathan Loaisiga -- who was filling in for the injured Paxton -- and knocked the 24-year-old right-hander out after just four innings with six hits and four runs, including a solo home run by Mitch Haniger in the third.

• Edwin showing there's lots left in the tank

Edwin Encarnacion (non-MLB) greeted reliever Luis Cessa with another solo shot in the fifth to make it 5-0. The 377-foot line drive to left field was Encarnacion’s 12th homer of the year and sixth in the past 11 games.

Healy added his sixth long ball of the season, increasing the Mariners' MLB-leading total to 74 in 39 games. He became just the second Mariner since 2008 with four extra-base hits in a game, joining Kyle Seager from a 2014 game at Yankee Stadium.

“He’s hitting it in the right spots and using the whole ballpark,” Servais said. “A lot of those doubles have been to the right side. Certainly, the home run on a 3-0 count to right-center was great to see. He’s not trying to do too much. He’s got power and a good swing. Just put himself in good counts and don’t try to do too much.”

“It’s kind of crazy. It’s what, May 8? And I’ve already matched my season total from last year,” Healy said. “It kind of tells you how bad my swing was last year and how excited I am to come out and do better stuff this year.”