Yusei Kikuchi gave up two home runs and a season-high 6 runs, suffering his 9th loss and marking his second consecutive year with double-digit defeats.

Coming off a seven-inning outing with only one run allowed, Yusei Kikuchi faltered today in the away game versus the Texas Rangers, surrendering two home runs and a season-high 6 runs in just 4 innings before leaving the mound. Patrick Corbin, the Rangers' lefty, pitched his finest game this season with 8 shutout innings, as Texas defeated the Los Angeles Angels 7-3, improving to 67-67 and returning to a .500 record. Kikuchi took his 9th loss of the season and is one defeat away from matching last year’s total losses.

In the first inning, Kikuchi was sharply tested by the Rangers’ lineup; with two outs and runners on first and second, he gave up two consecutive hits followed by a sacrifice fly, allowing 3 runs. A total of 7 Rangers batters appeared in that opening frame. In the bottom of the second, after walking the leadoff hitter, Kikuchi faced rookie Michael Helman. With a 2-1 count, a high fastball outside the strike zone was hit for a two-run homer to left field—Helman’s second career major league home run—extending the lead to 5-0.

After giving up the home run, Kikuchi managed to retire six batters in a row, but in the bottom of the fourth, he yielded his second homer of the game to the leadoff batter, Kyle Dowdy, on a 77-mph curveball right down the middle, pushing the score to 6-0. Kikuchi’s line for the game was 4 innings pitched, 81 pitches (48 strikes), 3 strikeouts, 3 walks, 4 hits including two home runs, and 6 earned runs — a season-high.

This was Kikuchi’s second start in August where he failed to complete 5 innings. Although he allowed 16 earned runs this month—one fewer than in July—his ERA of 5.54 is the highest monthly mark of his season. Despite leading the majors with 28 starts this year, he has only managed a 6-9 win-loss record.

In the three-game series, the teams split the first two games at one win apiece. The Rangers have returned to a .500 record and currently sit third in the AL West, trailing division-leading Houston Astros by 6 games. The Angels are in fourth place, 10 games behind Houston. Both teams still have postseason hopes alive, with the Rangers 5 games and the Angels 9 games behind the wild card qualification line.