Mariners: 4 takeaways from opening series versus San Francisco Giants

2) Yusei Kikuchi has excellent outing ruined by one pitch

Yusei Kikuchi has so far failed to live up to the hype generated by his career in Japan; a career which persuaded the Mariners to sign him to a four-year deal in 2019. Arguably the best thing you could say about him in his first season in Seattle was his durability, as he started 32 games.

Kikuchi did show some improvement last year, but still performed well below expectations. As such, he headed into the 2021 season with increased pressure to succeed and provide the Mariners with a valuable arm in the rotation.

The 29-year-old only started on Friday night, due to Servais moving James Paxton back to fifth in the rotation. And the decision almost worked out in the M’s favor. Almost.

Kikuchi came out firing, with a 97mph fastball for a strike on his very first pitch of the game. He quickly worked through the San Francisco Giants with a 1-2-3 first inning, which included two strikouts.

The southpaw was sharp through most of his six innings of action, as he tied his single-game record of 10 strikeouts. To illustrate his excellent performance, 67 of his 89 pitches went for strikes.

In reality, Kikuchi had his outing ruined by just one pitch, but it proved to be a turning point for momentum in the sixth inning. With the Mariners leading 3-1, Longoria connected with a fastball over the heart of the plate and hit a two-run homer to tie the game.

The hope now for the Mariners and their fans is that Thursday night represents a sign that Kikuchi is finally ready to take his game to the next level this season. Servais for one was excited with the outing, as he told the media after the game:

“That’s the type of stuff and the focus and just the attack mentality, we’ve been talking about for him to come along. That’s as dominant (an) outing as we’ve seen him have. I’m really happy and looking forward to seeing many more outings like that this year.”

NEXT: MORE UP THAN DOWN WHEN IT MATTERS MOST