BALTIMORE–What happened? After trading Bryan Baker, the reliever who led their team in appearances, the Orioles swept a doubleheader from the New York Mets, the first time they’ve won two games in a day since June 25th, 2016.
Gunnar Henderson hit a two-run, pinch-hit home run to key the Orioles’ 3-1 win in the first game. Tomoyuki Sugano allowed three runs on four hits in six innings, his longest start since June 3rd, as the Orioles beat the Mets, 7-3, in the second game before 17,961 on Thursday.
The Orioles (42-50) are eight games under .500 for the first time since May 6th but are still far out of playoff contention.
“You guys don’t want to hear it, but there’s still time,” interim manager Tony Mansolino said. “Despite making a move this morning. And I’m sure our obituary was probably getting written somewhere this morning because we made a trade … So, the fellas went out and played, man, and they had energy. It was a really good day.”
Jordan Westburg’s two-run home run and their sixth catcher of the season, Alex Jackson, had an RBI single in a three-run second.
Colton Cowser’s RBI single in the fifth against Justin Hagenman (0-1) gave the Orioles a 4-3 lead. A fifth scored when Mets third baseman Brett Baty booted Ramón Urías’ grounder.
Jackson doubled to lead off the sixth, moved to third on an infield out, and beat the throw home on Westburg’s grounder to short. Westburg scored on Ramón Laureano’s force play.
Sugano (7-5) had a rough beginning when Brandon Nimmo led off with a single and Francisco Lindor doubled. Nimmo scored on Juan Soto’s infield out and Lindor came in on Pete Alonso’s sacrifice fly.
Baty’s RBI single in the fourth temporarily tied the score, 3-3.
Andrew Kittredge, Gregory Soto and Seranthony Domínguez combined for three scoreless innings to close the game.
How did Sugano throw? Sugano had five rough starts, and Mansolino said he saw a different pitcher than he’s seen for the last month.
“Tomo’s making adjustments,” Mansolino said. “We’ve talked about that. The league has adjusted to him, and he’s got to kind of adjust back. That’s a heck of a lineup he kind of rolled through right there, the top five guys. We’re proud of him.”
Sugano, who was pitching in front of his parents, which he said was motivating, saw a definite change.
“Making sure all the pitches go down,” he said through his translator. “That’s something I had in mind throughout the game.”
Sugano won’t pitch again until after the All-Star break, and it’s conceivable he won’t pitch for 12 days, July 22nd in Cleveland, if the Orioles slot him fifth.
“He’s a really successful and proud player who’s done incredible things in his career and the way the last month went it’s probably the first time in his career he’s ever gone through that,” Mansolino said. “So to see him come out on top against a playoff-caliber team, a team that’s a half-game out of the NL East, or whatever it is, a pretty tough division is something he should have a lot of pride in.”
The Orioles recalled right-handed pitcher Colin Selby from Triple-A Norfolk before the second game and optioned catcher David Bañuelos, whose contract was selected for the first game, to Norfolk. Right-hander Grant Wolfram, who pitched two scoreless innings to earn the win in Game 1 as the 27th man, was returned to Norfolk.
Catchers have good day: Because of injuries, Jackson and Jacob Stallings, neither of whom was in the big leagues at the beginning of July, both caught in the doubleheader. Stallings was out of a job until the Orioles signed him to a minor league contract on June 24th, and Jackson was acquired on Sunday from the Yankees’ organization.
“We’ve played together before,” Jackson said. “I’ve known Stallings for a while. He’s an awesome guy, and when I came in here, he helped me a lot, just getting to know the guys, explained to me what we’re trying to do. And it’s been a lot of fun, so it’s really exciting to be able to play with him again.”
Mansolino was effusive in his praise for Jackson and Stallings.
“These are major league players. We did get them off the street, in a sense,” he said. “You’ve got to find the right guys. It’s a credit to the pitching group for getting these guys ready. They’re not here to swing the bat, even though they did swing the bat pretty good today, both of them, helped us out offensively. They’re here to call a game. They’re here to handle our staff, and they did an incredible job today doing that.”
Why was the trade made? Before the first game, executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias addressed the team’s outlook after the trade of Baker to Tampa Bay for a competitive balance pick, the 37th overall, in Sunday’s draft.
“It’s been brutal. I mean the start to the year was really painful for everyone and just a lot of negative fallout from that around the organization,” he said.
“And we’ve been working hard to recover from it, and I think we’ve had steps in the right direction and we’ve been working to improve some things and fix some things and get our guys back on the field that haven’t been healthy, but this has been a very disappointing season and I do think we’ve got the operation moving in the right direction now, but there’s no hiding from the hole that we put ourselves in.
“Are we making a trade like this if our record the reverse of what it is right now? Probably not. So there’s no hiding from that.”
What’s the stat of the day? The Orioles hadn’t won their previous 29 doubleheaders, the longest streak in the majors.
What’s the word? “I don’t think they need motivation. I’ve said it from day one, since I’ve started doing this, I don’t feel we’ve lacked motivation. And I think it’s evident from how they bounce back from tough losses and playing good teams and the whole deal right now.”–Mansolino on the Orioles
What’s going on in the minor leagues? Triple-A Norfolk right-hander Chayce McDermott was removed from the Tides’ game with Jacksonville because of right elbow discomfort.
What’s next? The Orioles play a three-game series with the Miami Marlins before the All-Star break. Dean Kremer (7-7, 4.53) will face Edward Cabrera (3-3, 3.33) on Friday night at 7:05.
Call for questions: Most weekdays, I’ll be answering at least one Orioles question. Please send yours to: Rich@BaltimoreBaseball.com