SEATTLE–What happened? Tomoyuki Sugano continued the Orioles string of effective starts, allowing just one run on five hits in six innings in the team’s fourth straight win, 5-1 over the Seattle Mariners before 21,089 at T-Mobile Park on Tuesday night.
It’s the Orioles’ first four-game winning streak since June 26th-29th, 2024.
Sugano (5-3) won his first game since May 9th. Rowdy Tellez homered in the second for Seattle’s only run. He walked one and struck out five.
It was Sugano’s fourth start of at least seven innings,
The Orioles (23-36) scored single runs in the first and fifth innings. Each time, they had three consecutive singles by Adley Rutschman, Gunnar Henderson and Ryan O’Hearn. In the first, they needed a sacrifice fly by Ramón Urías to score Rutschman.
In the fifth, O’Hearn’s singled scored Rutschman. Urías followed O’Hearn’s single by lining a ball off Seattle starter George Kirby’s mouth. It ricocheted to Tellez at first for the third out of the fifth.
After eight singles, Colton Cowser homered in the sixth in his first game since he fractured his left thumb diving into first on March 30th.
“What a loose swing, huh? You forget how free and easy that swing is right there,” interim manager Tony Mansolino said. “He looked really good for first game back in the big leagues after two months.”
The Orioles’ scored two runs in the ninth on a single by Coby Mayo, an RBI double by Heston Kjerstad and a run-scoring single by Jackson Holliday.
“All of the last four we’ve won, and it’s been fun baseball to be a part of. We’re all just trying to build off of it,” Kjerstad said. “We all want to win as many games as we can, and we’re all really competitive, so when we’re not winning, it’s definitely frustrating.”
Kjerstad had two hits, his first multi-hit game since May 17th.
I feel like it’s been trending more in that direction lately,” Mansolino said. “He’s had some tough luck here recently. I was happy to see Coby hit the ball hard, see the two kids, kind of late in the game, in the ninth inning get something going, give us a little bit of breathing room, really good.”
Bryan Baker allowed two hits in a scoreless eighth, and Félix Bautista pitched a spotless ninth.
The Orioles are now 8-8 under Mansolino, and the starters have been a big reason.
“It’s hard to win in this game without starting pitching. You’ve got to give our starters a ton of credit,” Mansolino said. “It’s something that didn’t go so well at the beginning of the year, but they kept working on it.”
How impressive has Sugano been? Sugano’s ERA is 3.04, and he continues to impress.
“Tomo was incredible, he set the tone for us,” Mansolino said. “That’s not an easy lineup to navigate right there with the right, the left, the switches, the power, the slug, the bat to ball. He did a great job. And for me, that’s the big difference in the game.”
Sugano has six quality starts—three or fewer earned runs in six or more innings, which leads all rookies.
“I mean, he’s done it all year,” Mansolino said. “I don’t know if we knew what to expect. This guy’s an MVP in Japan, he’s a Cy Young Award winner in Japan. He’s been incredible there. So I think now as we kind of sit here, it makes sense.”
Sugano recorded nine outs on ground balls.
“Especially after that solo [home run], I wanted to go down in the zone,” Sugano said through his translator. “So, I think I was able to make adjustments from there.”
What does it mean? As long as their starters pitch well, the Orioles have a chance to make up ground. They’re pitched well in four straight starts.
What’s the stat of the day? Sugano has allowed two or fewer walks in his first 12 starts—the third longer streak by an Orioles pitcher to begin their career. Only Josh Towers (23 games in 2001-2002) and Tyler Wells (13 in 2022) have more.
What’s the word? “For me to be able to contribute and starting to take some better ABs, getting some hits out there, definitely haven’t been performing the way I know I’m capable of or the way I want to starting the season, and that’s tough.”-Kjerstad on his night.
What’s going on in the minor leagues? Jordan Westburg played third base and was 1-for-5 in a rehab game as Triple-A Norfolk beat Louisville 8-5.
Catcher Samuel Basallo homered twice. He has 12. Centerfielder Jud Fabian and shortstop Luis Vázquez also homered. Designated hitter Dylan Beavers had three hits.
Third baseman Anthony Servideo had three hits in Double-A Chesapeake’s 6-3 loss to Akron.
Starter Trey Gibson was promoted from High-A Aberdeen to Chesapeake.
Centerfielder Vance Honeycutt had two hits and stole a base in Aberdeen’s 3-2 win over Hudson Valley.
Reliever Ben Vespi allowed just one hit in three scoreless innings as Single-A Delmarva beat Fredericksburg 5-3,
What’s next? Cade Povich (1-4, 5.29) faces Emerson Hancock (2-2, 5.64) on Wednesday night. Game time is 9:40 p.m.
Call for questions: Most weekdays, I’ll be answering at least one Orioles question. Please send yours to: Rich@BaltimoreBaseball.com