Baseball: Blue Jays' Kikuchi tagged with loss despite quality start

Yusei Kikuchi picked up his fourth loss Tuesday after allowing three runs, two earned, on five hits over six innings in the Toronto Blue Jays' 5-0 defeat to the Chicago White Sox.

Despite his sixth quality start and leading his team with a 2.64 ERA this year, Kikuchi (2-4) remains without a win in five games since April 22 as the Blue Jays sit rooted to the bottom of the American League East.

"I'm past the time when I can be satisfied just by setting the tone for the game. I'm frustrated," Kikuchi said after hurling a season-high 101 pitches, striking out six while walking three.

A runner reached on an error to open the second inning for the White Sox and Nicky Lopez singled in the opening run with two outs off Kikuchi. The southpaw gave up a walk and double before surrendering a two-run single to Corey Julks in the fifth, again with two outs, at Rogers Centre.

Elsewhere, Shohei Ohtani went 2-for-4 with an RBI and stole two bases but the Los Angeles Dodgers lost 7-3 against the Arizona Diamondbacks to have their four-game win streak broken.

© Kyodo News