Kikuchi held the Tigers off the board through four innings until a base hit and a double brought a run in to score in the fifth. He loaded the bases with no outs in the sixth and was pulled before Jake Rogers cleared the bases with a grand slam. Kikuchi ended the day with eight strikeouts. The 33-year-old left-hander will take a 4.54 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, and a 125/28 K/BB ratio across 111 innings into a start against the Rangers in Toronto on Friday.
Rogers stepped in to bat with the bases loaded in the sixth inning. Up by one run, he made it a five-run game with a grand slam off Trevor Richards. The The 29-year-old backstop is up to seven homers and 20 RBI while slashing .204/.251/.360 across 199 plate appearances.