The Orioles needed an outing like this. They haven’t been able to catch a break.
Four hours before first pitch, manager Brandon Hyde sat for his pregame news conference lamenting a bevy of injury updates, which included five pitchers. It got worse when, less than three minutes before the Orioles and Yankees got underway, the team placed Jordan Westburg and Gary Sánchez on the injured list. They returned home as losers of six of their past seven to face the American League East-leading New York Yankees. Camden Yards was crawling with pinstripes.
The Orioles needed someone to stop the bleeding. That’s where Tomoyuki Sugano came in, setting the stage for a 4-3 win.
New York entered Monday night top five in MLB in hits and top two in home runs and batting average. First in both OBP and slugging. Goliath might’ve dismantled any other Orioles starter. Sugano pitched five scoreless innings, allowing five hits and one walk while striking out a season-high eight.
It was Baltimore’s first scoreless start (omitting Keegan Akin’s 1 2/3 innings opening the second of Saturday’s doubleheader).
“I thought he was great,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “Such a tough lineup to get through two-plus times because of their elite ability to not chase pitches and control the strike zone. The fella hitting second for them [Aaron Judge] is just such a tough out. Just really impressed.”
Sugano’s best outing as an Oriole ended when Yankees first baseman Paul Goldschmidt launched a fastball sharply toward center field. Cedric Mullins, easily the team’s best player in 2025, leaped against the wall to rob a would-be two-run homer. Sugano, who threw a season-high 95 pitches, clapped like a proud dad and tipped his cap. He gave a nod and smirk to catcher Adley Rutschman, acknowledging the well-rounded showing.
That was as much emotion as Hyde has seen from Sugano all season. “He was super fired up when Ced caught that ball,” the manager said.
“It affected me big time,” Sugano said, through team interpreter Yuto Sakurai. “If it wasn’t for that catch, we might have not won. So, big-time play.”
Hyde has struggled to come up with positive adjectives for his starters lately. He has no issues commending Sugano’s command. In Monday night’s win, Sugano garnered 17 whiffs — the most of any Orioles starter thus far. Hyde said it’s “refreshing” to watch Nippon Professional Baseball’s three-time Most Valuable Player change speeds and work all parts of the strike zone, “kind of a lost art in today’s game.”
The objective of this team fighting for a way back to relevance is often repeated and fairly straightforward: If there’s a playoff push to be had, tread water until they get healthy enough to compete nightly. Baltimore’s bats have struggled to pull their weight. And the pitching staff, for the most part, is an anchor sinking to the ocean floor, with a bottom-three collective ERA.
Sugano seems to be keeping the Orioles afloat in that department. He’s cobbled together three straight quality starts. In this outing, he kept the Yankees off balance by throwing four pitches 19 or more times. Sugano had a pair of lethal strikeouts against Judge and Austin Wells that tempered New York’s offense.
“He was electric, and we need that. Tomo was outstanding,” Ryan O’Hearn said, adding later, “We’re going to need him all season long.”
Baltimore got a scare when Gregory Soto allowed two runs in relief, with Anthony Volpe and Wells hitting RBI doubles. Soto folded over in frustration. He got through the eighth inning but ambled off the mound with Baltimore clinging to a 4-3 lead.
Félix Bautista was introduced in the ninth for a save situation. Trent Grisham popped out. Bautista rang up two-time Most Valuable Player Aaron Judge. He fell behind 3-0 to Cody Bellinger, then struck him out swinging. It was Bautista’s fourth save of the season.
They all needed this one.
Postgame analysis
Baltimore’s bats did just enough. O’Hearn said last week they can only have so many “talks and meetings and say so much stuff,” it’s just a matter of going out and doing it. He did it on Monday, hammering a three-run home run in the third inning. The dugout collectively exhaled, Hyde said. That swing piled on to a Ramón Laureano RBI double that scored Jackson Holliday an inning earlier. The Orioles are now 10-2 when they score four or more runs.
They still have issues with runners in scoring position. The Orioles went 1-for-7 in those situations on Monday, falling to a dismal .199 this year. On Monday, it could have made the win a little more comfortable. Most nights, capitalizing on such traffic is the difference between winning and losing.
What they’re saying
O’Hearn on a much-needed win:
“I think tonight was a step in the right direction. Guys in our lineup are extremely capable of putting up runs. We’ve shown that we have really good hitters, guys who make great swing decisions, and obviously the power. All of it, together. It’s what, April 28? It feels like we’ve been punched in the gut a little bit this first month, but I have all the confidence in the world in these guys, and we’re going to get it going.”
By the numbers
Gunnar Henderson doubled in the first inning. He’s now hit safely in four consecutive games while reaching base in six straight, both season highs. The All-Star shortstop had been battling through a 1-for-16 slump that ended in Detroit this past weekend.
On deck
The Orioles narrowly escaped with a win over their division rivals. Baltimore continues its home stand with another two versus New York, with Kyle Gibson making his season debut on Tuesday and Cade Povich taking the ball on Wednesday.
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