Randal Grichuk

Kikuchi cruised into the fifth inning on Sunday with a comfortable 7-0 lead, but things got much tighter after Kikuchi allowed a single, two walks and then a one-out grand slam to Ketel Marte. Jays' manager John Schneider stuck with him, as he allowed a walk to Gabriel Moreno and a single to Lourdes Gurriel Jr. before punching out Christian Walker for the second out. He then allowed an RBI single to Randal Grichuk and plunked Jake McCarthy before mercifully being removed -- and both inherited runners went on to score. Kikuchi heads into the All-Star break with a 4-8 record, 4.42 ERA, 1.30 WHIP and a 117/26 K/BB ratio over 106 innings through his first 20 starts. He looked like a much better trade chip prior to Sunday's disastrous fifth inning.

Curious to see Carroll sitting after a two-homer game, but he'll take a breather to finish up the first half with left-hander Yusei Kikuchi starting for the Blue Jays. Ketel Marte will slide into the leadoff spot and Randal Grichuk will play right field.

The good news is Suarez didn't end up with a loss because Paul Sewald was just as bad, if not worse. The bad news is, see above. Suarez was handed a big 7-2 cushion when he came in, but he gave up a grand slam to Alek Thomas -- with the three inherited runners not counting against his ERA, and a two-run blast to Randal Grichuk to give Arizona an 8-7 lead. Suarez was then pulled in favor of Stephen Kolek to prevent further damage. Suarez still has an excellent 1.77 ERA and will remain the San Diego closer, but Friday night was an ugly reminder that he -- and most closers -- are far from infallible.

Grichuk was almost the hero Friday, as his two-run blast off Robert Suarez gave the Diamondbacks an 8-7 lead in the ninth inning. Unfortunately for the D-Backs and those who roster Paul Sewald, it wasn't meant to be. Grichuk has been a strong option off the bench/against lefties for Arizona in 2024 with a .294/.347/.462 slash, three homers and 20 RBI.