ANAHEIM, Calif. — The Orioles needed a stopper. Tomoyuki Sugano, as he already has so often in his young MLB career, delivered.
Sugano pitched 7 1/3 innings of one-run ball Friday night in his most dominant performance yet, leading the Orioles to a 4-1 win over the Los Angeles Angels that put an end to their five-game losing streak. The 35-year-old rookie has looked neither his age nor his status as a first-year player eight starts into his MLB career, posting a 2.72 ERA and 1.01 WHIP over 46 1/3 innings.
“Especially when the team is struggling like this, if I can get a good outing like this, I’m personally happy about it,” Sugano said through team interpreter Yuto Sakurai. “If I can get the momentum going from today, yeah, I’m glad I’m able to do this kind of job.”
He got some early run support from the Orioles’ lineup on a solo home run by Gunnar Henderson in the first and back-to-back RBI singles with runners in scoring position from Jackson Holliday and Emmanuel Rivera in the second. Henderson added an extra insurance run in the ninth with an RBI triple, providing just enough room for Sugano and the Orioles’ bullpen to fend off the Angels.
The right-hander made easy work of the lowly Angels, who entered the contest with the fifth-worst team OPS in baseball. He retired the first seven batters he faced and surrendered only three hits with five strikeouts. Sugano also didn’t issue a single walk, joining the Philadelphia Phillies’ Zack Wheeler as the only pitchers this season with three starts of seven or more innings without a free pass allowed.
“He’s got the art of pitching down,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “Just the way he changes speeds and moves the ball around and [is] super unpredictable, keeps hitters off balance, we played really good defense behind him tonight. It was a win we needed. Tomo stepped up for us.”
Sugano’s fastball played much faster than his 92.8 mph average might suggest, generating three of his 11 whiffs on the evening with all three finishing off strikeouts. He set the pitch up with a heavy dose of splitters and sinkers that helped lead to weak contact both in the form of grounders (nine) and fly balls (six).
He allowed his lone run of the night in the seventh when Angels third baseman Yoán Moncada tripled into the right field corner and scored on a groundout by left fielder Taylor Ward, but Sugano came back to retire the next two hitters he faced and came back out for the eighth at 91 pitches to set down one more batter. His 7 1/3 innings marked the longest start by an Orioles pitcher this season.
The bullpen did make things interesting after Sugano departed. Yennier Cano, who was charged with the winning runs in the Orioles’ 5-2 loss to the Minnesota Twins on Thursday, gave up a single and a walk to put two on with one out. Neto, who’s off to a scorching start to the season, worked a 13-pitch battle against Cano including seven foul balls before striking out swinging on a 96 mph sinker.
“He’s a tough at-bat,” Cano said through team interpreter Brandon Quinones. “He was protecting the plate, but he was also trying to get a good hit, maybe even a home run. He has a good swing, he’s probably one of the best I’ve faced so far this season. But it was a good thing I was able to come back from three balls to strike him out.
Keegan Akin then came in and got the final out after falling behind 3-0 to turn the game over to Félix Bautista, who went 1-2-3 in the ninth with two strikeouts for his seventh save in as many tries this season.
The clubhouse, which throughout the losing streak was tense with frustration, exploded with cheers shortly after the players all filed into the room. Music was blasting again and players were able to exhale enough to justify cracking a few smiles.
“Knew there’s just a matter of time we just needed to get going, get a little fire up under us,” Henderson said. “And yeah, felt like that happened.”
Postgame analysis
Adley Rutschman is having some serious bad luck.
The Orioles’ catcher went 0-for-4 but had one single robbed on a lineout to Neto and a 101.8 mph missile that went right at center fielder Kyren Paris. His expected batting average of .277 is leagues above his actual figure that now stands at .203. Rutschman is squaring up pitches and managing the strike zone as well as any hitter in the game, but so far doesn’t have any results to show for it.
It does, however, offer hope that Baltimore will be able to get more out of its young star, whose underlying metrics are much improved over his second-half slump from last season.
By the numbers
Over his past 23 games, Henderson is slashing .297/.347/.539 with four home runs and 12 extra-base hits. A slow start hampered by his lack of at-bats in spring training because of a rib muscle strain is starting to fade into the rearview mirror. He still hasn’t been able to shake the team’s overall trend of struggling with runners in scoring position, but production in those key spots will inevitably follow if he continues to hit his stride.
What they’re saying
Cano on battling through a couple of tough outings the past two games:
“Baseball is weird. I was talking earlier with the pitching coaches as well, and saying I feel really good. My arm feels really good and probably the best I’ve felt, and the results haven’t gone my way. And sometimes your arm can feel really tired and you get better results. So in that way, baseball is just weird sometimes. But I gotta figure out what’s been going on, trying to throw less balls going forward. But yeah, I feel really good.”
On deck
The Orioles (14-23) will aim to secure just their third series victory of the season Saturday when Kyle Gibson takes the mound opposite Angels right-hander Jack Kochanowicz. Gibson has struggled mightily over his first two starts of the season after signing a one-year deal with Baltimore late in the offseason.
Around the horn
• Orioles outfielder Colton Cowser played catch on the field before Friday’s game, his first time completing baseball activities since fracturing his thumb on a slide into first base April 30. Hyde said Cowser was still “a ways away” from swinging a bat but checked off an important box nonetheless as he continues his progression.
• Third baseman Jordan Westburg is still dealing with a sore hamstring and likely won’t play in any rehabilitation games until late next week, Hyde said. Ramón Urías, also on the injured list with a hamstring injury, has moved ahead of Westburg in his recovery and could be activated Tuesday or Wednesday next week.
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