Japanese left-hander, Ryut Kikuchi, had been struggling in his first four starts of the season and ended up turning it around by striking out eight over six scoreless innings in a 4-1 loss to the Padres. This turnaround came after he reverted to a similar arm angle to last year after experimenting with a higher release point. He said he had been working on his mechanics this week and experienced good results. This was the first time this season this season that Kikuchi managed to get through six frames without allowing any walks. His four-seamer reached as high as 98.6 mph and his average velocity was 1.3 mph higher than his season average, and he also threw it 45 percent of the time, a significant increase from his previous season.