<p>Yusei Kikuchi vs. the reigning National League Cy Young Award winner went about how you&#8217;d have expected it to go.</p>
<p></p>
<p>The Blue Jays actually managed to score three runs off of Corbin Burnes and they got another off of lockdown closer Josh Hader but it wasn&#8217;t enough as the Brewers won 5-4.</p>
<p>The only reason the Blue Jays actually had a chance in this game was because Trent Thornton and Max Castillo combined to toss six scoreless frames in relief of Kikuchi, who allowed five runs (two earned) over the course of two innings. This marked the fifth time in a row and ninth time in 14 starts all told that Kikuchi hasn&#8217;t been able to clear five innings.</p>
<p>Manager Charlie Montoyo sounded off on Kikuchi a little bit after the game, <a href="https://twitter.com/longleysunsport/status/1540845175081259010?s=20&amp;t=8HWHkWcdoohSd13HvqhpVg">saying</a> &#8220;he hasn’t pitched well and he put us in a tough spot today.&#8221; He&#8217;s mostly just stating the obvious here, but we haven&#8217;t seen Montoyo be that outwardly critical of another starting pitcher after a poor outing this season like he was here.</p>
<p>Montoyo also praised the performance of Castillo, who pitched very well in his second-ever big league outing on Saturday. Castillo allowed two bombs in his debut against the New York Yankees last weekend but settled in this time around and struck out seven over four scoreless innings.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Montoyo on Max Castillo: “That was a good impression what he did today. People have to show you that they can pitch at this level and that’s what he did today.”<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Bluejays?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Bluejays</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Rob Longley (@longleysunsport) <a href="https://twitter.com/longleysunsport/status/1540845538484035584?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 25, 2022</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>Whether it&#8217;s a trip to the Injured List with Left Arm Shittyness or a trip to the bullpen to drink some of Pete Walker&#8217;s magic elixir, the Blue Jays can&#8217;t keep trotting Kikuchi out there every fifth day. Giving Max Castillo a run in starting role couldn&#8217;t hurt. It seems Charlie Montoyo is thinking that way, at least.</p>
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Yusei Kikuchi vs. the reigning National League Cy Young Award winner went about how you'd have expected it to go.



The Blue Jays actually managed to score three runs off of Corbin Burnes and they got another off of lockdown closer Josh Hader but it wasn't enough as the Brewers won 5-4.

The only reason the Blue Jays actually had a chance in this game was because Trent Thornton and Max Castillo combined to toss six scoreless frames in relief of Kikuchi, who allowed five runs (two earned) over the course of two innings. This marked the fifth time in a row and ninth time in 14 starts all told that Kikuchi hasn't been able to clear five innings.

Manager Charlie Montoyo sounded off on Kikuchi a little bit after the game, <a href="https://twitter.com/longleysunsport/status/1540845175081259010?s=20&amp;t=8HWHkWcdoohSd13HvqhpVg">saying</a> "he hasn’t pitched well and he put us in a tough spot today." He's mostly just stating the obvious here, but we haven't seen Montoyo be that outwardly critical of another starting pitcher after a poor outing this season like he was here.

Montoyo also praised the performance of Castillo, who pitched very well in his second-ever big league outing on Saturday. Castillo allowed two bombs in his debut against the New York Yankees last weekend but settled in this time around and struck out seven over four scoreless innings.

https://twitter.com/longleysunsport/status/1540845538484035584?s=20&amp;t=8HWHkWcdoohSd13HvqhpVg

Whether it's a trip to the Injured List with Left Arm Shittyness or a trip to the bullpen to drink some of Pete Walker's magic elixir, the Blue Jays can't keep trotting Kikuchi out there every fifth day. Giving Max Castillo a run in starting role couldn't hurt. It seems Charlie Montoyo is thinking that way, at least.

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Charlie Montoyo says Yusei Kikuchi hasn’t been pitching well, could see Max Castillo in an expanded role

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