Yusei Kikuchi pitched six innings, his longest outing of the season, and recorded his first win of 2022 as the Toronto Blue Jays edged the New York Yankees 2-1 on Wednesday night to end the visitors' 11-game winning streak.
Kikuchi (1-1), making his fifth start of the season, limited the damage to a run on three hits, including a third-inning solo homer to Joey Gallo, while striking out seven and walking one in a 78-pitch effort at Rogers Centre.
"I was impatiently waiting to get a win, so this means a lot," Kikuchi said. "The importance of throwing first pitch strikes has been stressed to me and I think I was able to do that in today's game. That allowed me to be aggressive."
The Japanese left-hander spent the first three seasons of his MLB career with the Seattle Mariners, then joined the Blue Jays on a three-year, $36 million contract in March.
At Fenway Park, Shohei Ohtani went 0-for-3 with two walks as the Los Angeles Angels exploded for a six-run 10th inning on their way to a 10-5 win over the Boston Red Sox.
Hirokazu Sawamura, the seventh of the Boston pitchers to take the mound, was part of a bullpen meltdown as he allowed a three-run homer to Jared Walsh with two out in the 10th.