Angels fans can breathe a sigh of relief after a scary Yusei Kikuchi moment

Going for the sweep against the mighty Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday, Angels faithful had a moment that made them collectively hold their breath. Prized free-agent acquisition Yusei Kikuchi had been cruising in what may have been his most formidable challenge since arriving in Anaheim. The Angels desperately needed some length out of the man they signed to be their ace due to their depleted bullpen, and everything looked to be smooth sailing until the Dodgers started to rally in the fifth.

A lead-off walk by Kiké Hernandez led to the first Dodgers run as Shohei Ohtani knocked him in with a two-out RBI single. Kikuchi then issued walks to Mookie Betts and Will Smith to find himself in a bases-loaded jam against the fearsome Freddie Freeman, which he thankfully escaped by getting Freeman to fly out to left.

The taxing fifth inning took a lot out of the 33-year-old southpaw, who returned in the sixth, trying to push through at least one more inning to take some pressure off the weary, struggling bullpen. After getting Andy Pages to fly out after just two pitches, Kikuchi would now do battle against Tommy Edman in what would be a five-pitch at bat.

The speedy Edman pounded a fastball into the ground and off of home plate, the ball bouncing high and hanging in the air like a weak pop-up between first and second base. Nolan Schanuel camped under it while Kikuchi raced to cover the bag. In a bang-bang play, the ball, Kikuchi and Edman all arrived at the bag at the same time in what was eventually ruled as a 3-1 putout. The ruling on the field was the least of anyone's concerns, as Kikuchi stepped awkwardly on the base causing his ankle to bend in a scary way before getting tangled up with Edman and somersaulting in the dirt.

The Angels' ace did not immediately pop up and was promptly removed from the game, walking off under his own power after the scary moment.

It looks like Angels' ace Yusei Kikuchi avoided a major injury scare against the Los Angeles Dodgers

After the game, the Angels announced that Kikuchi had suffered "right ankle irritation" and the star hurler stated that he was fine, while expressing optimism for what the team's performance meant as the Angels held on for the victory to complete the sweep.

This was some much needed good news for a club that's dealt with it's share of serious injuries, with star setup man Ben Joyce being shelved for the season, Yoán Moncada dealing with lingering thumb issues and Mike Trout still working through his return. Even Zach Neto had a scary moment in the Freeway Series when he rolled his ankle on the second base bag, but thankfully he stayed in the game and nothing bad amounted from it.

Most importantly, the Angels avoided calamity as Kikuchi has quietly become the pitcher they were hoping for with his performance in the month of May. Following a blow up against the Minnesota Twins on April 26th when Kikuchi allowed nine hits, four walks, and four earned runs in just two innings of work, he's gone on to make four starts, logging 22.2 innings and posting a sparkling 2.38 ERA.

Kikuchi's resurgence has been a driving factor behind the Angels' struggling starting rotation beginning to turn it around. The unit is still slightly below average, with a 3.92 ERA on the year that ranks 18th in the league, however, with the veteran lefty leading the way they've mostly put the early season struggles behind them.

Barring a sudden development, the rotation anchor shouldn't miss any time, letting Angels fans breathe a huge sigh of relief as they celebrate taking the Freeway Series in a sweep.

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