The O’s starter dazzled to earn his first MLB win, and he was supported by a lineup that succeeded despite no contributions from its two biggest stars.
The Orioles entered the day as losers of three straight. They were suffering from impotent offense and lackluster pitching, but on Saturday evening in Kansas City both sides of the ball showed up to give the O’s an 8-1 win.
Tomoyuki Sugano made his second MLB start in this one. Where his debut left some questions, this outing made it clear that he belonged at the level. For 5.1 innings, he left the Kansas City hitters flummoxed. They managed just the one run on five hits, a walk, and four strikeouts as Sugano earned his first MLB win.
Most of that damage came in the sixth inning, when Sugano turned the lineup over for a third time. In that frame, Bobby Witt Jr. led off with a solo homer. Vinnie Pasquantino followed with a single. After a strikeout, Michael Massey was hit by a pitch, and that summoned Brandon Hyde from the dugout to make a switch.
Perhaps Sugano would not have gotten the chance to face the Royals lineup a third time in a closer game. The scoreline afforded him some leeway, but make no mistake, the 35-year-old looked really good in this game. He mixed pitches. He stayed ahead in the count. He simply looked like a veteran that knew his way around an MLB mound.
Kansas City had just two baserunners through the first four innings. They led off the fifth inning with back-to-back singles, but Sugano worked out of it with ease. The sixth inning started to go a bit a sideways, but his manager ensured the righty left with a win still well within reach. It was the sort of start that this rotation needed. The unit has to go deeper than Zach Eflin and a prayer. For at least one day, Sugano proved that it was.
Meanwhile, the Orioles offense had its best showing since Monday. They smacked the Royals pitching staff around to the tune of eight runs on 12 hits, five walks, and seven strikeouts.
They did this while Gunnar Henderson had a horrid individual game. The recently-returned star went 0-for-5 with four strikeouts as the team’s DH. Obviously, the Orioles don’t want Henderson to struggle, but it’s encouraging to see the team be able to have such a good offensive night while the tip of the spear is dulled.
Gary Sánchez’s first hit of the year came in the second inning, driving in the O’s first two runs of the game. Ryan Mountcastle had singled, and Tyler O’Neill had walked to set the table for Sánchez.
Baltimore put up a four spot in the sixth inning, and they did so without a home run. Cedric Mullins and Mountcastle singled with one out. After a flyout that advanced Mullins, Heston Kjerstad singled him home. Ramón Urías knocked in Mountcastle and moved up Kjerstad with a base hit as well. Sánchez walked to load the bases, and Jackson Holliday drove in a pair with a base knock to make it 6-0.
The Witt homer briefly dented the Orioles lead, but a Tyler O’Neill triple built it right back up. Jordan Westburg had singled to lead off the frame, and then Mullins walked. O’Neill brought them both home with a shot to deep center field, and scampered all the way around to third base. At 8-1, we had our final score line.
But let’s not forget the important work of the bullpen. All three pitchers that were used turned in fine performances.
Bryan Baker needed just three pitches to get out of Sugano’s jam in the third. He got Hunter Renfore to ground into a double play and preserve the starter’s impressive stat line.
Keegan Akin contributed two innings of work. He tip toed around two walks in the seventh, and then tossed a perfect eighth to keep the score right where it was.
And it was Matt Bowman in the ninth, inducing weak contact for a 1-2-3 frame that closed out the win.
This win felt good. It was never really in doubt after the first half of the sixth inning. Brandon Hyde was able to save his “A” relievers for another night, and the relievers he did use made sure the manager didn’t have to make many trips to the mound.
The offensive performance was impressive in several ways. It happened on a bad night for Henderson, and it enabled Adley Rutschman to take a full day off. And they scored those eight runs without the luxury of a home run. Having power is important, but it cannot be your only method for scoring runs in bunches.
This win also ended a losing streak for the O’s, and it puts them in position to get back to .500 and start a winning streak tomorrow in Kansas City. That would be neat!
The finale of the series starts at 2:10 pm ET on Sunday. Cade Povich (0-0, 6.23 ERA) takes the hill for the Orioles. He will be opposed by fellow lefty Kris Bubic (1-0, 0.00). It’s supposed to be another cloudy, somewhat cold day in Kansas City, but the rain should stay away for this one.