Yusei Kikuchi struck out 12 over seven strong innings and was backed by a two-run single by Yanier Diaz and a two-run triple from Jeremy Pena as the Houston Astros beat the visiting Kansas City Royals 5-2 on Saturday.
The Astros improved to 6-0 behind Kikuchi (7-9), who recorded exactly 17 outs in four of his first five starts since joining Houston at the trade deadline. Kikuchi allowed five hits and did not walk a batter.
"He was really, really good," Astros manager Joe Espada said. "He had all his pitches working, both sides of the plate. Our starting pitching has been phenomenal for a while, and Kikuchi just adds another level of quality of starts that we’ve been getting from these guys.”
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