The Astros remain unblemished with Kikuchi on the mound

ANAHEIM — Yusei Kikuchi was well aware Astros fans — and almost everyone — thought of the July trade that brought him from Toronto in exchange for three prospects. The deal was largely met by cynics and naysayers, citing Kikuchi's mediocre numbers with the Blue Jays and the high cost of acquiring him.

“When we're in the clubhouse all the time, MLB Network is always on and I see what everybody's saying,” he said. “It's hard not to look past that.”

Opinions on the trade differ six weeks later as Kikuchi becomes a key part of Houston's playoff push. He held the Angels to three runs and three hits while striking out six batters in seven innings to remain unbeaten in a Houston uniform and lead the Astros to a 5-3 victory Friday night at Angel Stadium.

“Obviously, I've heard a lot of what the fans have to say and stuff,” Kikuchi said. “From there, I just want to think that our GM, Dana Brown, made a great decision. I just want to prove to everyone what I'm capable of. Everything is going well right now, but obviously as a team we have one goal in mind — and that's to win the World Series.”

Kikuchi is 5-0 with a 3.19 ERA and 0.94 WHIP and has allowed 33 hits and 12 walks while striking out 59 batters in 48 innings in eight starts for the Astros, who are 8-0 in his outings. Kikuchi joins Randy Johnson (1998), Justin Verlander (2017) and Zack Greinke (2019) as one of Houston's most impactful in-season starting pitching pickups.

“We knew it was there,” Astros manager Joe Espada said. “I'm glad he's been receptive and we've been open to the adjustments we want him to make with pitch use and things like that. But hands have always been extraordinary. But how has he adapted to a team that feels like he's been here for many, many years.”

The Astros got homers from Alex Bregman and Yordan Alvarez, and closer Josh Hader hit the door for his 30th save of the season. It was the 5,000th win in Houston franchise history, which dates back to the 1962 expansion of the Colt .45s, and put the Astros 4 1/2 games ahead of the second-place Mariners in the American League West with 15 games remaining.

Before the trade, Kikuchi regularly featured both a slider and a curveball. But since joining the Astros, he has increased his slider usage and rarely throws his slower curve, the less effective of two breaking balls. When he was with Toronto, right-handed batters hit .280 against Kikuchi, slugging .441. But with Houston, he has limited rights to a .173 batting average and .315 slugging.

Kikuchi threw 33 sliders and 33 four-seamers Friday in his 85-pitch outing.

“When it leaves the hand it looks like a fastball and then, at the last minute, it goes left and right and it's a very hard pitch,” Espada said of the slider. “You're thinking 96 [mph] Fastball and sudden, 88, 89 are there [mph] Slider You don't have time to think so much. You just have to react, and he is able to locate it wherever he wants.

The Astros took a 2-0 lead in the second inning on a bases-loaded walk to Jose Altuve and a sacrifice fly by Alvarez. Bregman's 23rd homer of the year, a two-run drive off Samuel Aldegheri, made it 4-0 in the third.

Kikuchi walked the eight- and nine-hole hitters to start the third inning and scored both. He gave up a homer to Mickey Moniak in the fourth that cut the lead to 4-3, but Kikuchi retired 13 of the last 14 batters, including the last 10 in a row.

“He's been great for us,” Bregman said. “I mean, obviously, facing him, we knew how good his stuff was. And obviously when you get a guy of his caliber, you hope for big things and he's answered the call every time.

Trade looks better day by day.

“Of course, this is a business, and we all understand that,” Kikuchi said. “I was shocked myself that this team gave up even three chances. At the end of the day, I just want to prove that, yes, Dana Brown, he made an incredible trade.”