Mariners' Yusei Kikuchi: Works up to four innings Thursday

Kikuchi allowed two earned runs on five hits, a walk and a wild pitch over four innings in an 11-3 Cactus League win over the Reds on Thursday. He struck out two.

According to Greg Johns of MLB.com, Kikuchi endured a rough first inning, but he was able to work out of a one-out, bases-loaded jam by allowing just one run. Kikuchi also allowed a leadoff homer in the second to Derek Dietrich and took a line-drive shot off his thigh from the bat of Yasiel Puig during the outing, but he was able to finish his four frames without any notable impediment. Johns reports the Reds appeared to be honed in on Kikuchi's fastball and slider early, so the southpaw adjusted by leaning more on his breaking pitches the rest of the way with some effectiveness. "I was really happy with the way he threw tonight," manager Scott Servais said. "Every time out there's he's learning more, whether it's his relationship with the catcher or what the other teams are going to do against him. He's continuing to really progress nicely."