{"id":678906,"date":"2026-04-19T06:55:18","date_gmt":"2026-04-19T06:55:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/678906\/"},"modified":"2026-04-19T06:55:18","modified_gmt":"2026-04-19T06:55:18","slug":"angels-bullpen-spoils-yusei-kikuchis-strong-outing-in-loss-to-padres-orange-county-register","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/678906\/","title":{"rendered":"Angels\u2019 bullpen spoils Yusei Kikuchi\u2019s strong outing in loss to Padres \u2013 Orange County Register"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"People<\/p>\n

People walk by a makeshift tribute to former Angels outfielder Garret Anderson, whose death was announced by the Angels Friday morning, outside of Angel Stadium ahead of a baseball game between the San Diego Padres and the Los Angeles Angels, Saturday, April 18, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo\/Caroline Brehman)\n<\/p>\n

\"Angels<\/p>\n

Angels starting pitcher Yusei Kikuchi (16) releases a pitch during the first inning of a baseball game against the San Diego Padres, Saturday, April 18, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo\/Caroline Brehman)\n<\/p>\n

\"Angels<\/p>\n

Angels starter Yusei Kikuchi pitches during the second inning of a baseball game against the San Diego Padres, Saturday, April 18, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo\/Caroline Brehman)\n<\/p>\n

\"San<\/p>\n

San Diego Padres\u2019 Fernando Tatis Jr. (23) slides into second base as Angels shortstop Zach Neto (9) prepares to catch the ball during the first inning of a baseball game Saturday, April 18, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo\/Caroline Brehman)\n<\/p>\n

\"Angels<\/p>\n

Angels shortstop Zach Neto (9) tags out San Diego Padres\u2019 Fernando Tatis Jr., back, at second base during the first inning of a baseball game Saturday, April 18, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo\/Caroline Brehman)\n<\/p>\n

\"Angels<\/p>\n

Angels shortstop Zach Neto (9) reacts after getting out San Diego Padres\u2019 Fernando Tatis Jr. (23) at second base during the first inning of a baseball game Saturday, April 18, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo\/Caroline Brehman)\n<\/p>\n

\"San<\/p>\n

San Diego Padres\u2019 Jake Cronenworth, bottom, reacts after getting hit with a pitch during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Angels, Saturday, April 18, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo\/Caroline Brehman)\n<\/p>\n

\"Angels\u2019<\/p>\n

Angels\u2019 Mike Trout, left, slides into second base as San Diego Padres shortstop Xander Bogaerts, front right, steps over him to catch the ball during the sixth inning of a baseball game Saturday, April 18, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo\/Caroline Brehman)\n<\/p>\n

\"San<\/p>\n

San Diego Padres\u2019 Jake Cronenworth reacts after getting hit with a pitch during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Angels, Saturday, April 18, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo\/Caroline Brehman)\n<\/p>\n

\"San<\/p>\n

San Diego Padres relief pitcher Mason Miller (22) reacts upon defeating the Angels at the end of the ninth inning of a baseball game Saturday, April 18, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo\/Caroline Brehman)\n<\/p>\n

Show Caption<\/p>\n

1 of 10<\/p>\n

People walk by a makeshift tribute to former Angels outfielder Garret Anderson, whose death was announced by the Angels Friday morning, outside of Angel Stadium ahead of a baseball game between the San Diego Padres and the Los Angeles Angels, Saturday, April 18, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo\/Caroline Brehman)\n<\/p>\n

Expand<\/a><\/p>\n

ANAHEIM \u2014 The ballpark was full, runs were at a premium and when a cool breeze worked its way through the stadium in the late innings Saturday night, there was the slightest hint of October.<\/p>\n

The Angels have a long way to go before tasting the postseason for the first time since 2014, but they look determined to climb the mountain. Finding that finishing kick will take some work.<\/p>\n

With the Angels\u2019 resurgent offense held in check, left-hander Yusei Kikuchi kept the suspense alive<\/a> with his best outing of the season so far in a 4-1 loss to the San Diego Padres.<\/p>\n

After making a mechanical tweak in his delivery, Kikuchi gave up four hits over six scoreless innings and allowed one walk while matching a season high with eight strikeouts.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou look back at it, and all these (recent opponents) are going to be going for the playoffs,\u201d first-year Angels manager Kurt Suzuki said. \u201cIn New York, we had the lead in the ninth (inning) every game. We played the Padres tough tonight and beat them last night. In (Cincinnati), two out of three.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think they\u2019re playing great baseball. Sometimes, at the end of the game, you\u2019re running through some tough luck and things happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Just like in two of the Angels\u2019 losses in New York earlier in the week, the bullpen<\/a> sprang a leak. After Jordan Romano blew two save opportunities against the Yankees, right-hander Ryan Zeferjahn gave up two runs in the eighth that ended a scoreless duel.<\/p>\n

Suzuki was trying to get a second inning out of Zeferjahn after he followed Kikuchi with a scoreless seventh.<\/p>\n

An Angels offense that averaged eight runs over the past five games was held to six hits.<\/p>\n

Kikuchi was much improved after ditching his early-season strategy to raise his arm angle in his delivery. He carried a 7.50 ERA into the game over his first 18 innings after he had a 3.99 ERA over 33 starts (178\u2153 innings) last season.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis season, my arm angle was a little higher than usual but I brought it down a little bit, so that worked out perfectly,\u201d Kikuchi said through an interpreter about the changes he made since a road start against the Yankees on Monday<\/a> when he gave up four runs on four hits with four walks in a season-low 3\u2153 innings.<\/p>\n

Asked if he realized his velocity hit a season-high 99 mph on Saturday, Kikuchi didn\u2019t even wait for a translation and answered in English.<\/p>\n

\u201cI did know,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Padres veteran right-hander German Marquez, who has struggled with injuries over the past four seasons, gave up two hits over 5\u2154scoreless innings and allowed two walks with five strikeouts.<\/p>\n

Zeferjahn (1-1) handcuffed himself when he opened the eighth inning<\/a> with walks to Freddy Fermin and Jake Cronenworth. Ramon Laureano followed with a slow-rolling single to center for a 1-0 lead, and Fernando Tatis Jr. made it 2-0 on an even slower rolling single to right.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe obviously love when Zef\u2019s pitching, and he went out there and for whatever reason had a tough time with those first two hitters finding the strike zone,\u201d said Suzuki, who extended Zeferjahn after the right-hander threw eight pitches in the seventh inning. \u201cThen you get two seeing-eye singles, and one was under 60 mph off the bat.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Angels broke through in the eighth on an RBI single from Nolan Schanuel after he extended the at-bat by challenging a called third strike. But Jo Adell grounded out with the tying run at third base.<\/p>\n

The Padres made it 4-1 in the ninth on a sacrifice fly from Laureano and another RBI single from Tatis.<\/p>\n

Yoan Moncada singled and Vaughn Grissom walked in the ninth for the Angels before Logan O\u2019Hoppe struck out and Adam Frazier grounded out to end it against Padres closer Mason Miller, who finished off his seventh save.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey never stopped fighting,\u201d Suzuki said. \u201cThey keep going. I mean (against) Mason Miller, they get two guys on and the tying run comes to the plate twice. Two shots at it against the best closer in the game.<\/a> These guys keep fighting, and it\u2019s fun to be a part of.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was a rough night around home plate for both teams. O\u2019Hoppe was hit in the throat by a foul ball off the dirt and immediately called for the training staff but remained in the game after a short delay.<\/p>\n

Cronenworth took a glancing blow off the chin on a 96.5-mph fastball from Kikuchi in the fifth. He also remained in the game after a short delay.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt definitely wasn\u2019t on purpose, and I was just hoping it was nothing serious,\u201d Kikuchi said. \u201cI have some people I know on the Padres\u2019 training staff, so I will reach out to them and hopefully nothing serious happened to him.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"People walk by a makeshift tribute to former Angels outfielder Garret Anderson, whose death was announced by the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":678907,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2407],"tags":[5,56,4,43,137,18,4339,4338,185],"class_list":{"0":"post-678906","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-diego-padres","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-los-angeles-angels","10":"tag-mlb","11":"tag-padres","12":"tag-san-diego","13":"tag-san-diego-padres","14":"tag-sandiego","15":"tag-sandiegopadres","16":"tag-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116430067769684760","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/678906","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=678906"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/678906\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/678907"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=678906"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=678906"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=678906"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}