BALTIMORE -- As Tomoyuki Sugano struck out Jazz Chisholm Jr. to end the top of the third inning, the 35-year-old Japanese right-hander let out a little yell of excitement.
As Cedric Mullins made a leaping catch at the center-field wall to end the top of the fifth, Sugano pounded his right fist emphatically into his glove. He then waited in front of the Orioles¡¯ first-base dugout at Camden Yards so he could give Mullins a hug of appreciation.
When F¨¦lix Bautista blew a 98.4 mph sinker past a swinging Cody Bellinger to end Monday night¡¯s game -- a much-needed 4-3 victory over the rival Yankees for a scuffling Orioles squad -- catcher Adley Rutschman gave a hearty fist pump before jogging up to Bautista to celebrate.
It was only a late-April matchup, but the emotion was already pouring onto the field for Baltimore. During a trying start to the 2025 season for the Orioles (11-17), every win is important as they aim to prevent a disappointing month from snowballing into a disappointing season.
¡°It¡¯s, what, April 28? It feels like we¡¯ve been punched in the gut a little bit this first month,¡± said Ryan O¡¯Hearn, who slugged a key three-run homer in the third inning. ¡°But I have all the confidence in the world in these guys, and we¡¯re going to get it going.¡±
Coming off an excruciating 1-5 road trip through Washington and Detroit, the Orioles returned home hoping to halt their recent struggles. They¡¯ve been looking for players to step up.
Few have done so as often as Sugano, a bit of a surprise stopper in a struggling Baltimore rotation who is becoming a stabilizing presence for his new club early in his first year in the U.S.
Sugano lowered his rotation-best ERA to 3.00 with five scoreless innings against New York that featured new season bests for strikeouts (eight) and whiffs (17). He nearly doubled his punchout total -- he had nine over the first five starts of his MLB rookie campaign -- and generated more swings and misses than any Orioles pitcher had in an outing this season.
¡°Just really impressed,¡± manager Brandon Hyde said. ¡°The ability to move the ball around the strike zone and change speeds, to pitch, it¡¯s kind of a lost art in today¡¯s game. And it¡¯s refreshing.
¡°He dumps curveballs in for strikes. I liked the split tonight, being able to locate his fastball to both sides.¡±
Although Sugano has had a solid start to the year, his splitter hadn¡¯t quite been at the level of the other five offerings in his arsenal. But his split was his best pitch against the Yankees, who whiffed on nine of their 12 swings against it.
Of Sugano¡¯s eight strikeouts, seven were swinging, with six of those ending via a splitter. But he believed it was other pitches that led to the success of the split.
¡°Every outing, I find something new, and today especially, the sweeper was really good. Fastball was working as well,¡± Sugano said via interpreter Yuto Sakurai. ¡°If I were to talk about just the splitter today, I think it was OK, but mixing in with the fastball made it more effective.¡±
Sugano is typically calm and collected on the mound. But he dialed up the energy when leaving it each time Monday, which may have radiated into Baltimore¡¯s dugout.
¡°He¡¯s got a lot of composure. I thought I saw a little bit more attitude and a little bit more intensity tonight coming off the field,¡± Hyde said. ¡°He was super fired up when Ced caught that ball [to end the fifth]. It was a big play. He looked really focused tonight, and you could tell he was into it.¡±
Mullins¡¯ jumping grab that robbed Paul Goldschmidt of at least extra bases (and potentially a home run) preserved Sugano¡¯s scoreless gem. But it wasn¡¯t the only big-time moment that supported the outing.
Ram¨®n Laureano plated the game¡¯s first run with a two-out RBI double in the second. An inning later, O¡¯Hearn¡¯s three-run blast pushed the Orioles¡¯ lead to 4-0, ending their streak of seven games with three or fewer runs.
The Yankees clawed back to keep things interesting, but Bautista worked a 1-2-3 ninth that featured swinging strikeouts of Aaron Judge and Bellinger to seal the Orioles¡¯ third win in 10 games (and only their second over their past eight).
¡°Big win for the boys. We¡¯ve been grinding,¡± O¡¯Hearn said. ¡°It¡¯s the way this game is: You just get hot and you keep it rolling. I think tonight was a step in the right direction.¡±