Varsho, Kikuchi overpower Royals
Daulton Varsho’s slow start to the season is a thing of the past, and if he keeps up his current pace so too will his disappointing first year in a Blue Jays uniform.
Varsho isn’t just the Jays’ hottest hitter these days, he’s one of the top performers in MLB thanks to a blistering performance at the plate over the last two weeks. The torrid stretch continued on Monday night as Varsho homered for the sixth time over his last 10 games while Yusei Kikuchi tossed six quality innings to lead the Jays to a 5-3 victory over the Royals in Kansas City. Toronto improved to 13-10 and has won seven of its last nine games.
On April 8, Varsho was batting .158 with an almost unplayable .422 onbase plus slugging percentage. Since then, he has been a completely different hitter with a .355 average (11-for-31) including nine extrabase hits and 13 RBIs.
The 27-year-old finished Monday’s game tied for third in the American League with six home runs, twice as many as any of his teammates. Varsho, who went 1for-3 with a walk against Kansas City, also leads the Jays with 13 RBIs and is second to Justin Turner with an .881 OPS.
Varsho’s two-run homer in the sixth and Bo Bichette‘s three-run double in the first were the only big hits the Jays required. Royals starter Brady Singer was charged with all five runs on five hits and three walks as the Jays improved to 10-1 when scoring at least five.
Kikuchi enjoyed another quality start, allowing two runs on five hits while striking out four. He required just 48 pitches to get through the first five innings with the only hit coming on an infield single by Salvador Perez. The sixth proved more difficult as Maikel Garcia hit a tworun homer, but Kikuchi still exited with a three-run cushion.