TORONTO -- A 12-year veteran of Nippon Professional Baseball, Tomoyuki Sugano has a ton of pitching experience. The 35-year-old Japanese right-hander made 281 appearances for the Yomiuri Giants and played on plenty of big stages, including under the bright lights at the Tokyo Dome.
Yet, Sugano felt some nerves on Sunday afternoon when he took the mound at Rogers Centre for his MLB debut with the Orioles.
¡°Just a little bit,¡± Sugano said via interpreter Yuto Sakurai.
But as Sugano settled into his new surroundings, he began showing all the reasons why Baltimore signed him to a one-year, $13 million deal in December.
Although Sugano¡¯s first outing was cut short due to hand cramps, there was plenty for the O¡¯s to be encouraged about. The righty allowed two runs over four innings during the Orioles¡¯ 3-1 loss in the finale of a four-game series with the Blue Jays.
The biggest positive coming out of the start is that Sugano is expected to be fine.
¡°The pitching hand, obviously, was the concern,¡± manager Brandon Hyde said. ¡°He feels much better now after getting some fluids and some food, so he should be on line to make his next start.¡±
Before the cramping, Sugano overcame a bit of a bumpy start in impressive fashion.
Both Toronto runs vs. Sugano came in the first inning, when George Springer hit a two-run single with two outs after a leadoff walk by Bo Bichette and a double from Andr¨¦s Gim¨¦nez.
Sugano escaped the opening frame by punching out Will Wagner for the lone strikeout of his first outing. He retired 10 of the final 13 batters he faced, stranding a pair of baserunners in the third and another in the fourth.
Throughout the 73-pitch outing, Sugano utilized all six of the pitches in his arsenal -- a four-seam fastball (19 times), splitter (14), sinker (13), sweeper (10), cutter (nine) and curveball (eight).
¡°Splitter looked good, able to mix his pitches around, kind of move in and out with his fastball, and just really settle in,¡± catcher Adley Rutschman said. ¡°After the first inning, we kind of got rolling. Started getting early strikes on guys. I think he looked really good, and I¡¯m excited for a lot more innings with him.¡±
Sugano also feels there is plenty to build upon as he prepares for his next outing.
¡°Regardless of the outcome, overall, there were a lot of learnings today,¡± Sugano said. ¡°So if I can make adjustments for my next start, that would be good.¡±
The Orioles couldn¡¯t fully escape the injury bug that has bitten them since Spring Training, when shortstop Gunnar Henderson (right intercostal strain), starter Grayson Rodriguez (right elbow inflammation) and reliever Andrew Kittredge (left knee surgery) all got hurt.
On Sunday, Baltimore placed right-hander Albert Su¨¢rez on the 15-day injured list with right shoulder inflammation. The 35-year-old, who is serving as a long reliever out of the bullpen, showed decreased velocity during his season debut on Friday.
Outfielder Colton Cowser also hurt his left thumb during a slide into first base in the seventh. The 25-year-old exited the game in the ninth and was still being evaluated shortly afterward.
¡°It looks like it got bent back,¡± Hyde said of Cowser¡¯s thumb. ¡°He¡¯s getting looked at right now. He stayed in there for defense, but he wasn¡¯t able to hit there in the ninth inning.¡±
The Orioles will hope for good news as they head to Baltimore, where they¡¯ll play their home opener against the Red Sox on Monday afternoon after splitting the four-game set with the Blue Jays to begin the season.
Sunday¡¯s finale was a winnable contest despite Sugano¡¯s early exit. The O¡¯s scattered nine hits, eight of which came off right-hander Chris Bassitt, who tossed six innings of one-run ball.
¡°We had traffic. His pitch count was getting up there early. We had runners on base. We just didn¡¯t get the big hit there,¡± Hyde said. ¡°It was a well-pitched game from both sides. I thought Tomo threw the ball really well.¡±