Angels' Yusei Kikuchi Details Hilarious Exchange With Manager Ron Washington

Los Angeles Angels manager Ron Washington spoke with starting pitcher Yusei Kikuchi during a mound visit in the top of the sixth inning Friday, though Kikuchi didn't quite understand him.

"I was just letting him know he couldn't let this get away from him," Washington said. "He came too far. And we needed him to finish that sixth inning."

Washington insisted he got his motivating message across despite the language barrier, and it seemed like Kichuki understood what Washington needed from him. Kikuchi kept the Miami Marlins scoreless through 5.2 innings while striking out four. He received his first win as an Angel after the Halos' 7-4 win.

“There was a lot of slang I wasn’t familiar with, so I just gave it my all,” Kikuchi said through his interpreter after the game.

“Kikuchi understands,” Washington said with a smile. “He might have told y’all he didn’t quite understand what I said, but he understood what I said.”

The win brought the Angels' win streak to eight games, and took them above the Texas Rangers in the American League West standings. The Angels saw their heater end in the second game against the Marlins Saturday in a 6-2 loss and continued their losing streak Sunday.

"Glad I finally got that first win,” Kikuchi said through interpreter Yusuke Oshima “I don't think many people read too much into that, I hope, these days. But glad I got my first one under my belt.”

Kikuchi has been a solid rotation option for the Angels despite his 1-4 record, posting a team-lowest 3.17 ERA and team-high 54 strikeouts. His ERA in the month of May sits at 1.91.

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