Yusei Kikuchi pitches with purpose ends rut from Blue Jays rotation in win

KANSAS CITY — Yusei Kikuchi has been teaching his rotation mate Kevin Gausman some Japanese and the pair had discussed the term ikigai, which roughly translates to your purpose in life. “We were figuring out what our ikigai is,” Gausman said Tuesday, ahead of Kikuchi’s first start of the season. “We both decided that when we’re on the baseball field, our ikigai is to try to strike guys out.” In his first start of the year, Kikuchi pitched with purpose — his purpose. He struck out two and pounded the zone over five innings, allowing just one run — a…