KANSAS CITY -- Tomoyuki Sugano left his first MLB start with cramps in both hands, a condition manager Brandon Hyde contributed to Sugano¡¯s nerves for the 35-year-old¡¯s Major League debut.
Those nerves were gone Saturday.
In Sugano¡¯s second big league start, he displayed why he¡¯s been one of the most decorated pitchers in Nippon Professional Baseball history.
The two-time Sawamura Award winner -- Japan¡¯s Cy Young -- delivered 5 1/3 frames of one-run ball to lead the Orioles to an 8-1 win against the Royals on Saturday afternoon at Kauffman Stadium. Sugano allowed just five hits and struck out three, more than good enough to earn him his first Major League victory.
After the game, the Orioles celebrated his accomplishment with a beer shower while Sugano sat inside a laundry cart. The cheers of teammates could be heard in the tunnels of Kauffman Stadium.
¡°He¡¯s a veteran in Japan, but he¡¯s a rookie here in the [United] States even though he¡¯s 35 years old,¡± said Gary S¨¢nchez, who hit a two-run single in the second inning. ¡°It¡¯s a joy that all the teams share when a guy comes over and gets his first Major League win, so that was a lot of fun today.¡±
¡°Typically in Japan, the beer shower only happens during the championship, so I was really happy to get that treatment,¡± Sugano said through interpreter Yuto Sakurai. ¡°It made me feel like I want to succeed even more.¡±
Sugano established himself as an elite pitcher in Japan -- working a career 2.45 ERA over 12 seasons in the NPB -- so Saturday was more of what Baltimore expects out of the right-hander.
¡°They¡¯re excited for him right now. I think he¡¯s going into the cart right now,¡± Hyde said while the Orioles continued their celebration. ¡°He was really pumped up in the handshake line coming through the clubhouse, and we¡¯re all excited for him.
¡°I thought he looked way more comfortable today. I thought he was a little nervous in that first start in Toronto. Really good command like he had in Spring Training with all of his pitches.¡±
And he has quite a few. Sugano ended his outing with another diverse pitch arsenal. He threw 23 splitters (26%), 23 sweepers (26%), 14 curveballs (16%), 13 cutters (15%), 12 fastballs (13%) and four sinkers (4%) to keep Royals hitters guessing.
¡°All the pitches worked the way they were supposed to today,¡± S¨¢nchez said. ¡°He was really attacking the strike zone.¡±
That was most evident in the third and fifth innings. The Royals put runners on first and second with nobody out in the fifth, but Sugano buckled down to retire the next three batters in order -- effectively using his six-pitch mix. The lone run off Sugano came on Bobby Witt Jr.¡¯s solo homer in the sixth inning, only after Sugano waited 20+ minutes in the low 30-degree wind chill while the Orioles put up four runs in the top half of the frame.
But Sugano pitching into the sixth was exactly what the Orioles needed. Prior to the game, Hyde stressed the importance of starters going deep into games. Sugano¡¯s 5 1/3 innings tied the third longest start this season by an Oriole, only bested by Zach Eflin¡¯s pair of six-inning outings. The club entered Saturday with a starter ERA of 6.10, the second highest mark in the Majors (7.59).
Sugano¡¯s first Major League win was made possible by the bats at the bottom of the Orioles¡¯ lineup. S¨¢nchez, Heston Kjerstad, Ram¨®n Ur¨ªas and Jackson Holliday combined for six RBIs from the sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth spots in the order, respectively.
¡°I think that we are dangerous up and down the order, we are dangerous off the bench,¡± Hyde said. ¡°We have the ability to put up a lot of runs up on the board. We have shown that in the four wins, but we just got to be a little more consistent.¡±
The Orioles have scored just nine runs in their five losses, but have now scored 37 runs in their four victories. The club expects run production to be more consistent with Gunnar Henderson¡¯s return to the lineup, and the Orioles displayed that on Saturday -- even without his aid.
But if Sugano can pitch the way he did Saturday, this Orioles offense won¡¯t have such a heavy load to carry to win games.
¡°Obviously, [I'm] not here to win one game in the Major Leagues,¡± Sugano said. ¡°I¡¯m here to win day to day and ultimately get the championship. But after all of that [celebrating], I was still happy.¡±