Tomoyuki Sugano struck out eight, Ryan O’Hearn delivered a big fly, and Félix Bautista notched the save in a 4-3 win over the Yankees.
The Orioles entered tonight’s game staring up at the first-place Yankees from the basement of the AL East. The O’s can’t catch New York this week after a brutal start to the season, but Baltimore can show the league that it’s still ready to compete.
The Birds took a step in the right direction tonight. Tomoyuki Sugano debuted his swing-and-miss potential, and Ryan O’Hearn provided life with a three-run homer. Cedric Mullins robbed a homer, and Félix Bautista retired the top of the order in an emotional 4-3 victory at Camden Yards.
Sugano entered the game coming off consecutive seven-inning outings, but he had yet to make batters swing and miss at the dish. The 35-year-old only struck out nine batters in his first four starts, and his 15.4 Whiff percentage ranked in the very bottom of MLB.
I’ll admit I was nervous for Sugano to face a high-powered offense with hitters like Aaron Judge, Trent Grisham, and Jazz Chisholm, but Sugano elevated his game to another level.
The rookie immediately ran into some trouble in the top of the first, but he struck out Paul Goldschmidt and retired Anthony Volpe to end the inning unscathed. The Orioles nearly took an early lead in the first, but New York starter Will Warren managed a similar escape act after Cedric Mullins and Gunnar Henderson reached scoring position with nobody out.
Sugano cruised through the second with a pair of strikeouts against Jasson Domínguez and Oswald Peraza. After failing to convert in the first inning, the Orioles found a way to spot their starter a lead in the second. Jackson Holliday muscled a changeup into right field for a two-out single, and Ramón Laureano laced a ball 100 MPH off the bat to center field. Grisham took a poor route to the ball, and Holliday scored on the two bagger.
Sugano struck out Grisham to start the third, but Judge and Cody Bellinger singled to put the pressure on once again. This is where the newcomer to the AL East truly made his mark. Sugano struck out Goldschmidt with a nasty splitter, and he sent Chisholm down swinging with only three pitches to end the threat.
The Birds broke through with the big swing in the bottom of the third. Warren walked Gunnar Henderson and Adley Rutschman to start the frame, and O’Hearn made him pay on a 2-2 hanger. O’Hearn muscled the ball over the scoreboard in right field, and the Baltimore dugout erupted in a way that it hadn’t in quite some time.
Sugano struck out another batter in a scoreless fourth as his pitch count began to climb. It became clear that the fifth frame would be his last, and the rookie came through once again. Sugano struck out Judge for his eighth K of the evening, and he retired Goldschmidt and Bellinger to post his fifth zero of the day.
Sugano failed to match the seven frames he turned in against Cleveland and Washington, but he showed that he has some swing-and-miss in his arsenal tonight. He kept Yankee hitters off balance with the splitter and curveball, and he used his 94 MPH fastball effectively.
This was the type of pitching required against a high-power offense, and Sugano delivered. He finished the day with 5 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 1 BB and 8 K.
Keegan Akin replaced the righty and matched his energy. Akin struck out three of the four batters he faced before handing the game off to Yennier Cano. Cano allowed an infield single to a pinch-hitting Oswaldo Cabrera, and a sharp single to Grisham. He nearly escaped with the shutout intact, but Judge avoided a double play on a slow moving grounder.
Gregory Soto entered and recorded the final out of the seventh inning to keep the game at 4-1. Soto returned for the eighth but quickly ran into some trouble. He surrendered a leadoff single to Goldschmidt, and Goldschmidt advanced into scoring position on a wild pitch. Soto allowed back-to-back doubles to Anthony Volpe and Austin Wells, and the Yankees trimmed the lead to one. With Bryan Baker warm in the bullpen, Soto managed to strikeout Domínguez and retire Cabrera to preserve a one-run lead.
The Orioles failed to add any insurance after O’Hearn’s Earl Weaver Special in the third. They finished the game 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position, which setup Félix Bautista and a one-run lead against the top of the Yankees’ order.
Bautista fell behind 2-0 before generating a harmless pop up from Grisham. With one out, the baseball world turned its attention to Baltimore as Judge stepped to the plate. Bautista went sinker, slider, splitter, splitter splitter. Judge took the slider in the dirt, but he chased a splitter for the second out of the inning.
Bautista fell behind Bellinger 3-0 before battling back for a strikeout to clinch the save.
The Orioles will look to make up another game and take the series tomorrow evening. Kyle Gibson will make his season debut against Carlos Rodón.