Yusei Kikuchi recovered from a tough start to finish with 11 strikeouts in his debut for Houston, helping the Astros defeat the Tampa Bay Rays 3-2 on Friday night.
Kikuchi, who was acquired from Toronto on Monday, gave up a double to Yandy Diaz on his second pitch and a two-run homer to Dylan Carlson on his sixth pitch.
Carlson hit his first homer of the season in 125 at-bats and his first since joining the Rays in a trade from St. Louis on Tuesday.
After those early hits, Kikuchi settled down and struck out eight batters in a row, ending the fifth inning and tying an Astros franchise record. Justin Verlander was the last Astros pitcher to strike out eight batters in a row in 2022.
“I know I was part of a big trade, so I wanted to do my best today and perform well,” Kikuchi said. “I think we got off to a good start today, and I’m glad that we won the game.”
Kikuchi pitched for 5 2/3 innings, giving up two runs and three hits while walking three. He was two strikeouts short of his season high and matched his season-low for hits allowed.
“If you take those first two at-bats of the game, he was outstanding,” Astros manager Joe Espada said. “Fastball was explosive, and he was mixing all of his breaking balls. Just an outstanding performance.”
The Astros took a 3-2 lead with two outs in the seventh inning against Kevin Kelly (3-2) after Yordan Alvarez hit a bloop single and was followed by a double from Diaz. Second baseman Christopher Morel made an error on a throw from outfielder Carlson, allowing Alvarez to score.
Bryan Abreu (2-1) struck out two batters in one scoreless inning to earn the win. Josh Hader pitched a scoreless ninth inning for his 22nd save of the season and his 22nd consecutive successful save attempt, tying the second-longest streak in franchise history.
The Astros tied the game in the fourth inning after Diaz walked, Jeremy Peña doubled, and Jon Singleton singled to score Diaz. Jake Meyers then hit a sacrifice fly to deep right field to drive in Peña.
