The Baltimore Orioles MAY have righted one or two things tonight in Washington. Another loss for sure, but they didn’t give the same listless performance we saw the last two games. For starters, Tomoyuki Sugano was outstanding. Sugano’s line: 7.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 0 BB, 1 K.
Needless to say, it was a quality start. It was also the best Sugano had pitched for the O’s. It didn’t start well; he gave up a solo homer on the first at-bat of the game to Wood. Later in the inning he surrendered a single, and then a two-run homer to Bell.
However after that he buckled down. He only gave up two additional hits in the game. And the fact is that first inning made all the difference. The O’s would finally get on the board in the third with an RBI-single by Adley Rutschman.
And for the record, Rutschman somewhat broke out tonight. He went 2-for-4 with the aforementioned RBI. Overall the Orioles had ducks on the pond in this game. Which is certainly a start, but the Orioles also left 12 men on base. You have to get them in. But getting them on is a start.
The Orioles would get a sac fly-RBI by Tyler O’Neill in the seventh to pull to within 3-2. One inning later they would load the bases and get a second sac fly-RBI by Ramon Urias. Sugano was off the hook for a loss, and the O’s had tied the score.
But just when you think you’ve maybe broken out of a funk, old demons pop up. Gregory Soto allowed two runners on, and the Orioles couldn’t turn a double-play later in the inning. To be clear, the base runner still would have been at third base. However Garcia would have been the final out in the inning; instead, his sac fly-RBI gave Washington a 4-3 lead. And a 4-3 win.
Again, we saw maybe the beginnings of the Orioles snapping out of their funk tonight. Losses are piling up, but you can stomach one like this to a degree as a stand-alone. It’s the games like last night which make this tough to accept.
You have to get guys in. But again, unlike the last two games they got guys on. And again that’s a start.
I can’t stress enough how good Sugano was. A 3-0 deficit after the first is tough to dig out of. But he put the Orioles in a spot to win the game. That bodes well going forward.
The series concludes tomorrow night at Nationals Park. Cade Povich gets the start for the O’s, and he’ll be opposed by Washington’s MacKenzie Gore. Game time is set for 6:45 PM.
Birdland Crush 