With almost no margin of error in the race for the wild card spots in the American League playoff race, the Toronto Blue Jays need to continue their solid play as of late. On Tuesday, they took on the Philadelphia Phillies, another aspiring playoff contender, with Yusei Kikuchi taking the hill against Zack Wheeler.

In the end, it became a pitcher's duel, with Kikuchi tossing six innings of one-run ball. The 32-year old Japanese international allowed just four hits while striking out seven (against no walks), going toe-to-toe with Wheeler as the Blue Jays' bullpen outlasted the Phillies' en route to a 2-1 victory.

Following the game, Yusei Kikuchi drew rave reviews from Blue Jays manager John Schneider. Schneider believes that Kikuchi's performance during his first few innings on the mound was akin to witnessing a certain mythological god in the flesh.

“He was throwing lightning bolts those first few innings,” Schneider said, per Keegan Matheson, Blue Jays reporter for MLB.com.

The god known for wielding a lightning bolt in Greek mythology, of course, is Zeus, and Yusei Kikuchi must have really wowed John Schneider to draw that comparison. But upon closer look, the Blue Jays starter really did have an electric first few innings to warrant that kind of response.

Kikuchi struck out the first two hitters he faced, including a three-pitch punchout of Alec Bohm, and he began the game by retiring the first seven batters. He induced some weak contact by keeping hitters off balanced, working off of his 95-mph fastball to deadly effect.

Alas, even with Kikuchi's solid start, he was unable to pitch deep into the game for the Blue Jays, as Schneider grabbed the ball from his starter to begin the seventh inning, turning the game over to the bullpen. It's not like Kikuchi had a heavy workload to that point, as he only threw 84 pitches in his six innings of work.

Kikuchi has been more than solid for the Blue Jays this season after an uninspiring 2022. Following his impressive night vs. the Phillies, Kikuchi now has a 3.44 ERA in 128.1 innings of work, striking out 132 while walking just 35 batters.