Sometimes it’s a leg kick, as it was when he struck out Alec Bohm in the first inning of a terrific pitching duel at the Rogers Centre on Tuesday night.
Other times, Yusei Kikuchi’s celebration is a hop off the mound, as it was when he got Philadelphia Phillies slugger Bryce Harper swinging in the fourth.
The on-mound theatrics are just part of the show, however, as Kikuchi has emerged as a critical force in the sizzling Jays rotation.
The animated lefty continued his rejuvenated season, allowing just one run in six innings in the Jays’ clutch 2-1 win over the Phillies before a sellout crowd of 42,615.
The Jays’ offence did just enough, scoring the go-ahead run in the eighth to improve to 67-54 as the scent of a playoff race begins to get a little stronger around these parts.
“Most of the time, it’s his reaction on strikeouts and seeing the joy he is pitching with,” Jays manager John Schneider said when asked what stands out about the Japanese southpaw’s sensational season thus far. “Watching him work in between starts and evolving as the season went on and looking at a really confident pitcher has been really cool.
It’s been much more than that, of course, considering entering spring training Kikuchi’s role with the Jays was very much in doubt.
Now, all he has done has gone six consecutive starts allowing one run or fewer, matching Dave Stieb and current teammate, Hyun Jin Ryu.
“You look at 365 days ago and where he was (relegated to the bullpen) and where he is now (one of the best pitchers in the league) and it’s awesome to see a player put in the work and see the results,” Schneider said.
Jays hitters certainly had their hands full with Phillies starter Zack Wheeler, who allowed just three hits while walking four over seven innings.
But with Kikuchi doing his thing, it was enough to win a game that Schneider later described as having a playoff feel.
“He was throwing lightning bolts the first three innings,” Schneider said of Kikuchi, who trimmed his post all-star break ERA to 1.29, second lowest in the majors. “It’s a really tough lineup to navigate, about as deep as you can get. I thought it was one of the best outings we’ve seen from him.
While there was no question that Kikuchi was dealing, Schneider took advantage of a rested bullpen and the return from the injured list of closer Jordan Romano to attempt to shut down the Phillies.
It started with a four-batter seventh from Yimi Garcia, followed by deadline acquisition Jordan Hicks striking out the side in the eighth.
That set the stage for the return of Romano, pitching for the first time since July 28. The velocity was back, as was the excellence, as Romano’s fastball eclipsed 97 miles per hour in a 1-2-3 ninth to secure the save, his 29th of the season.
For a team that has had so much trouble scoring runs in critical situations, the Jays finally had something go their way in the eighth inning.
A leadoff walk by pinch hitter Nathan Lukes started it, followed by a Whit Merrifield single. When Vlad Guerrero Jr. walked to load the bases, the Jays thought they had the winning run on a George Springer grounder, only to see Lukes thrown out in a tight play at the plate.
“We worked some walks, we battled,” said Biggio, who had a pair of walks off of Wheeler. “From our hitters, we saw a lot of pitches and we were able to get on base. Being able to manufacture a run was huge especially with Romano coming in.”
It was another clutch night for Merrifield, who had a pair of hits and now has 42 since the all-star break, most in the AL. Over his previous 34 games, Merrifield is hitting a lofty .353 and a tidy .304 on the season.
The latest step on shortstop Bo Bichette’s return to the lineup was washed out Tuesday night in Buffalo where the all-star was scheduled to be the DH for the triple-A Bisons.
The Jays are certainly being cautious with Bichette, though a return to the big club this weekend remains a possibility. There certainly is a need for the return of the team’s most prolific bat.
Meanwhile, the rains at Sahlen Field also wiped out a scheduled outing for reliever Chad Green, who is cleared to return from his rehab assignment after suffering a concussion last week. Another reliever, Trevor Richards, was also slated to get some work.
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Martin Necas scored a go-ahead goal with 29 seconds left and the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Philadelphia Flyers 6-4 on Tuesday night.
It was the seventh straight win for the Hurricanes, who also got goals from Jack Roslovic, Jordan Martinook, Eric Robinson and Jackson Blake. Seth Jarvis added an empty-net goal in the final seconds.
Necas typically saves his game-winners for overtime, with nine in his career, but he was able to take care of business in regulation with his team-best seventh goal of the season.
Travis Konecny scored two goals and had two assists for the Flyers. Morgan Frost and Owen Tippett also scored for Philadelphia.
Aleksei Kolosov made 28 saves for the Flyers, who trailed 2-1, 3-1 and 4-3 but kept coming back. Carolina’s Pyotr Kochetkov struggled in net allowing four goals on just 16 shots.
Elsewhere in the NHL on Tuesday:
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SABRES 5 SENATORS 1
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Bowen Byram and Tage Thompson scored 16 seconds apart to open the third period, and Buffalo snapped a three-game skid with a win over Ottawa.
Byram scored twice, JJ Peterka had two goals and an assist and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 37 saves.
Ridly Greig converted his own rebound in cutting Buffalo’s lead to 2-1 with 7:31 left in the second period. Linus Ullmark made 29 saves in dropping to 1-4 in his past five starts.
Buffalo went up 3-1 on Byram’s second goal 21 seconds into the third period. The defenceman’s shot from inside the blue line sneaked through Ullmark, with the puck rolling down the goalie’s pad, dropping into the crease and trickling across the line. Thompson scored when he crashed the net, was knocked over by defender Jake Sanderson and was lying in the crease when Alex Tuch’s shot went in off his shoulder.
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MAPLE LEAFS 4 BRUINS 0
TORONTO (AP) — Anthony Stolarz made 29 saves for his first shutout of the season in Toronto’s 4-0 victory over Boston.
Morgan Rielly had a goal and two assists as Toronto connected three times on the power play. William Nylander and Matthew Knies added a goal and an assist each. Mitch Marner had two assists of his own. Steven Lorentz rounded out the scoring into the empty net.
The Leafs played without captain Auston Matthews, who is listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury.
Jeremy Swayman made 23 stops for Boston, which was coming off consecutive weekend shutouts of the Philadelphia Flyers and Seattle Kraken.
Toronto’s porous 31st-ranked power play scored for the second time in as many games at 8:44 of the second period when Rielly fired through a screen. Nylander banked in his team-leading 10th goal of the season on another man advantage 1:14 later for a 2-0 lead.
The Bruins entered the game 8-0-0 in the regular season against their Atlantic Division rival dating back to Jan. 14, 2023.
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FLAMES 3 CANADIENS 2 (OT)
MONTREAL (AP) — Matt Coronato scored twice as Calgary came back to defeat Montreal in overtime.
Coronato tied the game with 2:46 remaining in regulation when he cruised into the slot and went off the post and in. He then buried the winning goal seven seconds into the extra period.
Connor Zary also scored for Calgary, which won its second game in seven outings. Dustin Wolf stopped 21 shots.
Joel Armia — with a short-handed goal — and Brendan Gallagher scored for Montreal (4-7-2). Armia also provided an assist, while Sam Montembeault made 32 saves as the Canadiens’ losing streak extended to four games.
Zary opened the scoring with his third 4:20 into the second period when he pounced on a loose puck in the slot and fired a shot past Montembeault.
Gallagher then slipped the puck between Wolf’s pads at 16:23 to level the score with his fifth of the season.
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BLUES 3 LIGHTNING 2
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Jordan Kyrou, Alexey Toropchenko and Oskar Sundqvist scored to help St. Louis beat Tampa Bay 3-2.
Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington made 21 saves for his 149th career win moving him past Jake Allen for second place in franchise history, just two wins behind Mike Liut’s 151.
Nick Perbix and Victor Hedman scored, and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 20 saves for the Lightning who have lost three straight games.
Kyrou scored his fourth goal of the season 8:51 into the third period to give St. Louis a 3-1 lead.
Toropchenko scored his first goal of the season with 1:35 remaining in the second period to put St. Louis ahead 2-1 after Sundqvist tied the game with his first of the season 7:47 into the period.
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ISLANDERS 4 PENGUINS 3 (SO)
NEW YORK (AP) — Bo Horvat scored the only goal in a shootout and New York rallied past Pittsburgh 4-3.
New York goalie Ilya Sorokin denied Rickard Rakell, Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang in the shootout and finished with 32 saves. Kyle Palmieri had a goal and an assist for the Islanders, who trailed 3-1 midway through the third period.
Simon Holmstrom and Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored in the third for New York. Horvat had two assists.
Evgeni Malkin had a goal and an assist to lead Pittsburgh. Crosby got his 598th career goal, and Michael Bunting also scored. Rakell added two assists.
Alex Nedeljkovich stopped 23 shots for the Penguins, who have lost seven of nine. They won their previous two following a six-game skid.
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KINGS 5 WILD 1
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Trevor Lewis scored twice, Kevin Fiala added another on the power play and Los Angeles beat Minnesota 5-1.
Warren Foegele and Quinton Byfield also scored for Los Angeles, which was playing the second night of a back-to-back after a 3-0 win in Nashville a night earlier. David Rittich made 23 saves for the Kings.
Fiala, who was traded to Los Angeles in 2022 by Minnesota for a first-round pick draft pick and defenceman Brock Faber, scored his seventh goal of the season. He now has three goals and six assists in his last seven games against the Wild.
Minnesota, which had won three in a row, opened the scoring in the second period on Zach Bogosian’s first goal of the season. Goaltender Filip Gustavsson stopped 23 shots for the Wild.
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JETS 3 UTAH 0
WINNIPEG, Man. (AP) — Nino Niederreiter scored twice in his 900th NHL career game and Connor Hellebuyck made 21 saves to help Winnipeg defeat Utah 3-0.
It was Hellebuyck’s second shutout of the season and 39th of this career.
Gabriel Vilardi also scored for the Jets. Adam Lowry assisted on both goals by Niederreiter.
Utah ended a run of picking up points in three consecutive games (1-0-2).
Karel Vejmelka stopped 25 shots for Utah in its second stop on a four-game road trip.
Jets winger Kyle Connor had his franchise-record, season-opening points streak end at 12 games.
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AVALANCHE 6 KRAKEN 3
DENVER (AP) — Arturri Lehkonen scored the go-ahead goal on a power play in his season debut and Nathan MacKinnon had five assists as Colorado beat Seattle 6-3.
Mikko Rantanen added two goals for the Avalanche, who snapped a three-game losing streak. Ivan Ivan, Nikolai Kovalenko and Chris Wagner also scored for Colorado.
Cale Makar had two assists but the star defenceman barely played in the second half of the game and appeared to be slowed by an apparent injury during a brief shift.
MacKinnon and Makar extended their season-opening point streaks to 13 games.
Lehkonen played for the first time since off-season shoulder surgery.
Jared McCann, Jaden Schwartz and Brandon Montour scored for the Kraken.
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CANUCKS 5 DUCKS 1
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Brock Boeser, Danton Heinen and Kiefer Sherwood had a goal and an assist apiece, and Quinn Hughes recorded his 300th career assist in Vancouver’s victory over Anaheim.
Jake DeBrusk and Elias Pettersson also scored and Hughes had three assists for the Canucks, who have won six of eight. Kevin Lankinen made 21 saves in Vancouver’s sixth consecutive win over the Ducks.
Olen Zellweger scored a power-play goal early in the first period for Anaheim, which has lost seven of nine. Lukas Dostal stopped 31 shots.
Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko took shots from teammates again after the morning skate, and he could return to practice this week. The Southern California native and 2023-24 Vezina Trophy finalist hasn’t played this season due to a knee injury incurred late last season.
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SHARKS 2 BLUE JACKETS 1 (OT)
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Alex Wennberg scored 3:11 into overtime and San Jose celebrated the return of No. 1 overall draft pick Macklin Celebrini with a win over Columbus.
Defenceman Jack Thompson scored his first career goal for the Sharks (4-8-2), who entered the night with the worst record in the NHL. San Jose has won four of five.
Celebrini, the top pick in the 2024 NHL draft, missed 12 games with a hip injury he sustained in the season opener Oct. 10 — an injury first incurred during the pre-season. Celebrini didn’t score and missed a shot early in overtime.
San Jose goalie Vitek Vanacek was fantastic in net, making 49 saves.
Blue Jackets right wing Kirill Marchenko scored for the second consecutive game. Columbus (5-6-1) has lost three straight.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Canada’s Gabriela Dabrowski and New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe remain undefeated in women’s doubles at the WTA Finals.
The 2023 U.S. Open champions, seeded second at the event, secured a 1-6, 7-6 (1), (11-9) super-tiebreak win over fourth-seeded Italians Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini in round-robin play on Tuesday.
The season-ending tournament features the WTA Tour’s top eight women’s doubles teams.
Dabrowski and Routliffe lost the first set in 22 minutes but levelled the match by breaking Errani’s serve three times in the second, including at 6-5. They clinched victory with Routliffe saving a match point on her serve and Dabrowski ending Errani’s final serve-and-volley attempt.
Dabrowski and Routliffe will next face fifth-seeded Americans Caroline Dolehide and Desirae Krawczyk on Thursday, where a win would secure a spot in the semifinals.
The final is scheduled for Saturday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Nov. 5, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
EDMONTON – Jake Allen made 31 saves for his second shutout of the season and 26th of his career as the New Jersey Devils closed out their Western Canadian road trip with a 3-0 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Monday.
Jesper Bratt had a goal and an assist and Stefan Noesen and Timo Meier also scored for the Devils (8-5-2) who have won three of their last four on the heels on a four-game losing skid.
The Oilers (6-6-1) had their modest two-game winning streak snapped.
Calvin Pickard made 13 stops between the pipes for Edmonton.
TAKEAWAYS
Devils: In addition to his goal, Bratt picked up his 12th assist of the young season to give him nine points in his last eight games and now 15 points overall. Nico Hischier remains in the team lead, picking up an assist of his own to give him 16 points for the campaign. He has a point in all but four games this season.
Oilers: Forward Leon Draisaitl was held pointless after recording six points in his previous two games and nine points in his previous four. Draisaitl usually has strong showings against the Devils, coming into the contest with an eight-game point streak against New Jersey and 11 goals in 17 games.
KEY MOMENT
New Jersey took a 2-0 lead on the power play with 3:26 remaining in the second period as Hischier made a nice feed into the slot to Bratt, who wired his third of the season past Pickard.
KEY RETURN?
Oilers star forward and captain Connor McDavid took part in the optional morning skate for the Oilers, leading to hopes that he may be back sooner rather than later. McDavid has been expected to be out for two to three weeks with an ankle injury suffered during the first shift of last Monday’s loss in Columbus.
OILERS DEAL FOR D-MAN
The Oilers have acquired defenceman Ronnie Attard from the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for defenceman Ben Gleason.
The 6-foot-3 Attard has spent the past three season in the Flyers organization seeing action in 29 career games. The 25-year-old right-shot defender and Western Michigan University grad was originally selected by Philadelphia in the third round of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft. Attard will report to the Oilers’ AHL affiliate in Bakersfield.
UP NEXT
Devils: Host the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday.
Oilers: Host the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 4, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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