As ugly as Friday’s game was, Saturday’s game in Kauffman Stadium was just as nice. The Baltimore Orioles defeated the Kansas City Royals 8-1 with a solid effort all around. The Orioles mounted a 12 hit (3 extra-base hits) offensive effort while the pitching staff limited the Royals to 5 hits.
Ryan Mountcastle (2 for 5, 2 R) singled and Tyler O’Neill (2 for 3, 2B, 3B, R, 2 RBI, BB) drew a walk to start the second inning and both scored on a Gary Sanchez (1 for 3, 2 RBI, BB) single.
Given that early lead, starter Tomoyuki Sugano (1-1) gave the team a decent effort. Sugano threw 89 pitches (59 strikes) over 5.1 innings of work, allowing 1 run on 5 hits with a walk and 4 strikeouts. He did throw a wild piych and hit a batter as well. He also retired the side in the first, second and fourth innings while facing runners in scoring position in the third and fifth innings. Sugano surrendered a Bobby Witt Jr homerun to open the sixth inning then allowed a Vinnie Pasquantino single before being replaced after hitting Michael Massey with a pitch.
Sugano was credited with the win because the Orioles scored four runs in the top of the sixth inning, with all the runs coming with two outs. All told, the Orioles hit five singles in the inning. Heston Kjerstad (1 for 5, R, RBI) and Ramon Urias (1 for 4, R, RBI) each knocked in one run while Jackson Holliday (3 for 4, 3B, 2 RBI) knocked in two.
https://twitter.com/Orioles/status/1908636930733994379
Bryan Baker (0.2 IP) needed just 3 pitches (2 strikes) to induce a double play to get Sugano out of the sixth. Keegan Akin walked 2 and struck out 2 over 2.0 innings while Matt Bowman (1.0 IP) pitched the nint
O’Neill’s two RBI triple in the seventh capped off the Orioles scoring.
Cedric Mullins went 1 for 3 with 2 runs scored and 2 walks.
2025 Record: 4-5
Next Game: Sun. 4/6 @ 2:10 pm in Kansas City vs. Royals