Baseball: Kikuchi shut out knocks Eagles out of first place

Back home in northeastern Japan, Yusei Kikuchi threw a five-hitter for his second shutout of the season in the Seibu Lions' 5-0 Pacific League win over the Rakuten Eagles on Friday.Kikuchi (8-4), from neighboring Iwate Prefecture, struck out 14, while allowing two walks in a 140-pitch effort in which he did most of his damage with his slider changeup and curve.The home team's loss before 24,106 at Sendai's Kobo Park Miyagi, saw the Eagles lose their season-long grip on first place.Although the Eagles had back-to-back singles to open the bottom of the first inning, Kikuchi made his escape wi…READ FULL ARTICLE