Baltimore Orioles: Tomoyuki Sugano a hard-luck loser

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.

Baltimore Orioles: Too much in the strike zone

Dean Kremer was slightly better than the numbers indicate tonight for the Baltimore Orioles. Slightly. Not by much. Kremer’s line: 5.1 IP, 11 H, 6 R (5 earned), 0 BB, 4 K.

Kremer gave up a two-run homer to Lowe in the second inning. This after a tight grounder down the left field line right where Jordan Westburg had shifted away from. One inning later with a runner on third, Kremer uncorked a wild pitch, and the Orioles trailed 3-0.

You noticed on the line score that Kremer didn’t walk anyone. In theory that’s a good thing. But it also shows that Kremer was in the strike zone a lot. Too much of a good thing is often a bad thing.

You have to mix your pitches and you have to locate them with late movement. Kremer was serving them up. And Washington hitters took advantage.

Garcia’s RBI-single in the fifth extended the lead to 4-0. Garcia also advanced to second on a Cedric Mullins throwing error. He would score on Ruiz’s run-scoring single.

Kremer would also surrender a solo homer to Cruz in the sixth, before he was pulled. Ruiz would add an RBI-double in the seventh, and the O’s dropped game one in Washington, 7-0. But make no mistake, Kremer being in the strike zone early and often wasn’t the sole issue.

The Orioles mustered one hit. Offensively, it was a fairly listless effort. It’s fair to say that the bats didn’t give Kremer the chance to win. So…where do we go from here?

I would say this; Brandon Hyde should probably figure out a lineup and stick to it. When guys are hitting above or behind different people every game it makes things tougher to get in a groove. I get that you have to look at numbers, matchups, and the opposing starter. That all makes a difference.

However it’s almost as if opposing managers are a step ahead of the Orioles’ lineup, and they’re getting the opportunity to dictate games before they even start. Only thing we can say for sure is they managed one hit tonight.

Oh the flip side, I also wonder if somehow pitches aren’t being tipped. Small things like that make a difference. The coaches need to take a hard look at several games’ worth of film, and figure out if someone’s doing something slightly off or mundane that’s telling teams what’s coming.

Look no further than the first hitter of the game tonight, who masterfully hit against the Orioles’ partial shift. A shift that was designed to protect against a guy getting on base. Instead, it actively assisted in it. Teams are using the Orioles against them. And it’s working.

The series continues tomorrow night at Nationals Park. Tomoyuki Sugano gets the start for the O’s, and he’ll be opposed by Washington’s Trevor Williams. Game time is set for 6:45 PM.

Baltimore Orioles: Friendly neighborhood baseball game

The Baltimore Orioles go down the pike this evening to open the DC leg of the Battle of the Beltways. On a side note, and to show that these two cities are one region, Gunnar Henderson and Ryan Mountcastle apparently were in attendance at last night’s Washington Capitals playoff game.

The Orioles of course come in reeling given the fact that they fell to Cincinnati on Sunday, 24-2. That’s a tough score to see. However it’s also fair to mention that the final nine runs of the game were surrendered by position players as pitchers. Many will say that’s irrelevant because they still scored. And that’s true. Others will say the real pitching staff still surrendered 13 runs! Also true.

End of the day, you can also look at the game and say that the only pitcher (aside from Charlie Morton) to appear with any sort of regularity who was used was Cionel Perez. The likes of Cano, Bautista, among others weren’t torched in this game. If you want a positive spin, there it is.

However the way you forget about a game like that in baseball is…simply to forget about it. You play 162 games. If you let this one game magnify in your mind, it’s going to stay there. The off day yesterday helps. So does going out on the road immediately, despite still technically being local.

Here’s one thing that should start happening. The pitching woes are due in large part to injuries. When you lose your top rotation guys, it’s tough to make ends meet. However we’ve seen a lot of frustration from the Oriole dugout regarding revolving strike zones. Brandon Hyde even said over the weekend that guys need to take up for themselves.

Ironically, I disagree there to a point. You don’t want the reputation of a complainer as a player. Gunnar Henderson on Sunday looked like he was about to say something to the home plate umpire about the zone, and while it was warranted I applaud the control.

Having said that, I think the pressure needs to come from Brandon Hyde. Am I saying he should go and get kicked out of a game at some point arguing balls and strikes? I suppose I am. As Earl Weaver said once, it’s better for the manager to get thrown out than players. And I would submit that if he does it, he should get his money’s worth. The one game he was thrown out of this year it happened while he was in the dugout (and quite frankly it was a very quick hook). Go out there and make a spectacle of it.

One way or the other, the Orioles will take on the Washington Nationals in DC starting tonight. DC’s famous for its Half Smokes, but…aren’t we all really just Crab Cake people?! And I say that as the grandson of a former Washington Senators farmhand who made a heck of a Crab Cake every Christmas Eve!

The series will begin tonight at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C. Dean Kremer gets the start for the Birds, and he’ll be opposed by Washington’s Mitchell Parker. Game time is set for 6:45 PM.

Baltimore Orioles: What to do with Charlie Morton?

The Baltimore Orioles signed starter Charlie Morton in the offseason as a stopgap in a sense. For one reason or the other, it’s not working out. Morton took it on the chin this afternoon, as did the Orioles. Morton’s line: 2.1 IP, 7 H, 7 R, 4 BB, 2 K.

Mind you, Morton’s 41 years old. Would he have played this year had he known at least how it started? Tough to say. But would you walk away from a guaranteed paycheck? I can’t say I would.

Morton surrendered an RBI-single in the second. But the O’s did tie the score in the bottom of the inning when Ramon Urias scored on an errant throw. But that was false hope for the Birds.

De La Cruz would give Cincinnati the lead back right away, taking Morton deep in the third. But in typical AL/NL central style, Cincinnati cut the Orioles by paper cut to death. A base hit here and a double there…

…Frayley’s RBI-single and a subsequent throwing error by Morton allowed two additional runs, running the lead to 5-1 for Cincinnati. When the smoke cleared, the O’s trailed 8-1 after the third. An RBI-double and an RBI-single in the fourth (off of reliever Cody Poteet made it 10-1.

Cincinnati continued the onslaught in the fifth. Wynns’ RBI-single and Hays’ RBI-double extended their lead to 12-1. Against, a base hit and a walk there – Cincinnati tacked on a few others down the stretch. The O’s brought Jorge Mateo in for the eighth and he gave up a grand slam running it to 20-1.

You almost question how it was possible that the bottom of the order was able to do so much damage, while Oriole bats couldn’t get anything going against a beleaguered pitching staff. Sometimes baseball gives results like this. Cincinnati was in essence going with a bullpen game today. But their bullpen also nitpicked the Orioles to death. It was supposed to have been the other way around.

It begins and ends with Morton – today, that is. But Morton hasn’t been stellar thus far this season. Today there were a few pitches in his short outing that were borderline and called balls. But when you’re regularly outside of the strike zone, odds are you aren’t getting the close calls. It’s easy to say that a strike is a strike and a ball is a ball. But when you miss time and again and you “train” the umpires to see the ball off the plate, they get used to it.

But if the Orioles can get a starter via trade who’s bona fide, it would go a long way towards righting the ship. And maybe you send Morton out on a phantom IL stint. That’s the best option I can give you.

To be clear, the answer isn’t to simply DFA Morton. That’s far too easy to say, and as a society we try far too much to oversimplify things. Morton’s a veteran, and he’s been around for too long to have that sort of fate.

It’s worth mentioning that there’s a good chance Kyle Gibson makes his debut in the next week or so. One has to hope that solidifies the rotation. My solution would be that the O’s need to trade for a starter sooner rather than later. You don’t know when Grayson Rodriguez is going to return, or Kyle Bradish for that manner. Zach Eflin appears to be close to either returning or going out on a rehab start.

Another crazy aspect of this season is how the bottom of teams’ orders are hitting against Oriole pitching. Several backup catchers, including Cincinnati’s Wynns today, have hammered them. Not to mention how good opposing teams are hitting with two strikes. Meanwhile, when the Orioles hit the ball as hard as they can, it finds someone’s mitt. Such can at times be the ebb and flow of the season.

Incidentally, the onslaught continued well after Charlie Morton left the game. Cincinnati might have just been dialed in this afternoon (especially the bottom of the order). Or…it could mean that the Orioles are tipping pitches.

And none of that, least of all the Charlie Morton discussion, explains why the bats are so streaky. They did get a solo homer by Adley Rutschman in the eighth. But this should have been a day when Oriole bats stood out. Cincinnati was all but punting the game with the bullpen handling it. But again often times games are reverse-locks. Needless to say, this one was across the board.

For the record, the line score says the O’s gave up 24 runs. Unequivocally, they did. But the last nine were off of Jorge Mateo and Gary Sanchez – position players. The score was still lopsided, but the official Oriole pitching staff didn’t surrender 24 runs.

Baltimore Orioles: It’s always the guy it shouldn’t have been

It’s always tough when a pitcher makes his big league debut, which is what Brandon Young did this afternoon for the Baltimore Orioles. Today’s game had been circled since Zach Eflin had gone down, as it was the date the Birds were going to need a fifth starter. And Young was the guy who got the call. Young’s line: 4.0 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 BB, 3 K.

The Orioles obviously would have preferred that Young pitched deep into the ballgame, but you have to remember it was his first major league start. Early in his outing he was probably in the strike zone too often. And in fact, the O’s fell behind 1-0 on Lux’s RBI-single in the first.

But Young adjusted. So did the Orioles. When they came to bat in the first, Cedric Mullins and Gunnar Henderson went back-to-back with solo homers, giving the O’s a 2-1 lead.

However a solo homer by Fraley and an RBI-double by Friedl put Cincinnati back in the lead at 3-2. But this was shaping up to be one of those wild sorts of games, so it only made sense that the Orioles would immediately tie it back up. This on a second inning RBI-double by Gunnar Henderson.

Adding to that motif was the fact that Cincinnati’s starter Greene is one of the best starters in the league. But the O’s chased him after three innings. And in doing so, the Birds obviously made him work. And thus sent a guy who at times looks unhittable to the bench.

But before that happened, Ramon Laureano smacked a two-run homer, giving the Orioles a 5-3 lead. The only problem was that Laureano was only in the game because Heston Kjerstad had to exit after getting hit on the elbow with a 100 MPH fastball.

Things would tighten in the sixth when Cincinnati squeezed in a run on a bunt RBI-single by Friedl. He was also safe at first base, with Keegan Akin not being able to handle the bunt. Akin was replaced with Seranthony Dominguez, who immediately induced an inning-ending 5-4-3 double-play, ending the threat.

I mentioned above that Heston Kjerstad left the game early after a HBP. Luckily, X-Rays were negative. This for a guy with a lot of talent, who’s already had amazingly putrid luck with injuries in his career. Presumably he’s day-to-day.

Ramon Laureano had already made an impact with a two-run homer earlier in the game. But with the team leading by one and looking slightly shaken, he came through again in the last of the seventh. The guy who wasn’t supposed to play today hit a solo home run, giving the Orioles a slight bit of breathing room.

For good measure, Jordan Westburg added an immediate solo shot of his own, giving the O’s a 7-4 lead. That busted Westburg out of an 0-for-30 slump.

Interestingly, Cincinnati manager Terry Francona used tomorrow’s scheduled starter, Carson Spiers, in relief. And to show he wasn’t kidding, he pitched Spiers for the final four innings. Needless to say, Francona’s a hall of fame manager (or he will be). Obviously he has a plan for tomorrow, and he knows what he’s going to do. It was just curious to me.

The O’s would post two insurance runs in the eighth on RBI-singles by Tyler O’Neill and Ryan O’Hearn. And it’s a good thing they did – Cincinnati wasn’t going away. They got a solo homer from Hays in the ninth.

They also put two runners on base. And they forced Brandon Hyde to go to closer Felix Bautista, who closed out the game and the Orioles’ win. The bullpen is now taxed going into tomorrow – but so is Cincinnati’s.

The series concludes tomorrow at Camden Yards. Charlie Morton gets the start for the O’s, and Cincinnati is yet to announce a starter. Game time is set for just after 1:30 PM.

Baltimore Orioles fall in opener with Cincinnati

Cade Povich struggled against Cincinnati this evening for the Baltimore Orioles. As a pitcher, you’re never going to be on 100% of the time. Povich had issues locating his pitches, and this command. Povich’s line: 3.1 IP, 6 H, 7 R, 5 BB, 4 K.

The O’s started off on top. Cedric Mullins’ solo homer in the second gave them a 1-0 lead. But one inning later Cincinnati had the lead. And in semi-bizarre fashion at that. De La Cruz sent a deep fly ball to center that bounced off the lip of the wall. It was originally ruled a two-RBI double, but on umpire review it was ruled a three-run homer.

The fourth inning would see a solo homer by Candelario, and a three run shot by McLain. The latter of those two busted the game wide open, and the O’s trailed 7-1. This chasing Povich from the game.

Hays’ RBI-single in the seventh would extend that lead to 8-1. It was a fairly strange play, as it fell into a Bermuda Triangle in shallow right field. But as we’ve seen with the Orioles for years, it never seems to be how hard you hit the ball. It’s where it lands.

Heston Kjerstad would make it a more reasonable score with a two-run home run in the eighth. For what it’s worth, the Birds will have to make a roster move tomorrow, as Brandon Young will be called to the majors to make his big league debut. Might Cade Povich be on the business end of that transaction? Tough to say.

The series continues tomorrow afternoon at Camden Yards. The aforementioned Brandon Young will get the start for the O’s (his major league debut), and he’ll be opposed by Cincinnati’s Hunter Greene. Game time is set for just after 4 PM.

Baltimore Orioles: First series win

It’s been a strange early season for the Baltimore Orioles. Granted, injuries among other things have played a role. But tonight they got a strong start out of Tomoyuki Sugano, who gave the Birds an opportunity to win. Sugano’s line: 7.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 3 K.

Gunnar Henderson set the tone right off the bat. This meaning literally. His solo home run in the first inning gave the Birds a 1-0 lead. Cleveland would net things up in the third on a solo home run by Schneemann, and on they played in a 1-1 tie.

However Cleveland would go back-to-back with a solo home run by Hedges in the wake of the first one. But their 2-1 lead was short-lived. In fact, they would never be that close again.

This in a good way – from the Orioles’ perspective, that is. Gunnar Henderson smacked a three-run homer in the bottom of the inning. The umpires had to review the play, but it was ruled that the ball was a home run. And there O’s led, 4-2.

Heston Kjerstad would tack on a two-run shot in the last of the sixth, extending the Birds’ lead to 6-2. Seranthony Dominguez and Felix Bautista were solid in the latter innings, shutting Cleveland down. In taking two-of-three, the O’s won their first series of the season. And if you go back to last year, their first series since September of 2024.

Tomorrow the O’s welcome in Cincinnati to Camden Yards for the first of three. Cade Povich gets the start for the Orioles, and he’ll be opposed by Cincinnati’s Andrew Abbott. Game time is set for just after 7 PM.

Baltimore Orioles: Yennier Cank for the win

Dean Kremer turned in perhaps his best start of the season for the Baltimore Orioles tonight. Maybe that’s slightly hollow given how early it is. But Kremer did what he was supposed to do – he put the Birds in a spot to win the game. Kremer’s line: 5.1 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 2 K.

Kremer had some help. The O’s worked counts early and loaded the bases in the second inning. That brought Jackson Holliday to the plate. And his grand slam busted the Birds out of whatever funk they were in. And they led 4-0.

Cleveland would slightly battle back. Arias’ solo homer in the third cut the lead to 4-1. And there the game remained as it went on…and on. Until Ramon Laureano smacked a solo homer in the last of the seventh, extending the lead to 5-1.

But the game was won an inning later. With two runners on, Brandon Hyde went to Yennier Cano out of the pen. Cano would strike a hitter out, and walk another – loading the bases. He would proceed to induce a double-play, with the hitter grounding back to him. He went to the plate for one, sand Adley Rutschman threw to first for the second out ending the inning. (Interference was called at first to get the third out.)

The O’s would add on late, with a solo homer by Ryan O’Hearn among other things. They ran the final to 9-1. But make no mistake that Yennier Cano won the game for them. Cleveland threatened in the eighth, and a big inning would have changed the game. But Cano allowed nothing. End of the day, the O’s got the win. And now try to get on a streak.

The series concludes tomorrow night at Camden Yards. Tomoyuki Sugano gets the start for the O’s, and he’ll be opposed by Cleveland’s Tanner Bibee. Game time is set for just after 6:30 PM.

Baltimore Orioles outlasted by Toronto

Cade Povich got the start this afternoon at Oriole Park at Camden Yards in the series finale with Toronto. It was meant to be the third game, but of course the series was shortened to two games due to rain. Povich’s line: 4.2 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 2 K.

Luckily for the O’s, they got at it quick. With runners at the corners and two outs, Toronto starter Berrios uncorked a wild pitch. Gunnar Henderson scored from third, and the O’s led 1-0.

Toronto battled back immediately with a solo homer in the second tying the score at one. But…the Orioles can hit homers also. And Ryan Mountcastle did just that in the second – a solo shot. The O’s led 2-1 – for a short period. Guerrero’s RBI-single in the third tied the game at two.

However Adley Rutschman would give the Orioles the lead back in the bottom of the inning. With a runner at third he would hit a grounder to the second baseman Gimenez, who inexplicably decided to throw home. The angle wasn’t exactly the best, and Gunnar Henderson had a good lead off the bag. Henderson would slide in safely, and the O’s led, 3-2.

Toronto’s an aggressive team. Their aggression worked against them in that instance. One inning later it was the Orioles’ aggression – but theirs worked. Tyler O’Neill smacked a solo homer, extending the lead to 4-2.

Toronto would pick up a run in the sixth, but the O’s extended the lead in the bottom of the inning. With two runners on Jackson Holliday sent a deep liner to right that was misplayed by the Toronto outfield. Two runners scored, and the O’s led 6-3. At the time, that felt like a death blow.

As I said above, Toronto’s aggressive. They’re also patient. Which is tough to outlast. They chipped away against Gregory Sotto in the eighth. After an RBI-double, an RBI-groundout, and an RBI-single, they had tied the O’s..

Toronto would get an infield RBI-single in the tenth to take a 7-6 lead. They would close the Orioles out, stranding the tying run at third in the tenth to split the shortened series. Frustrating loss, but the ball bounces the other way at times.

The worst part is the final run came in on a slowly hit infield single. Opponents are getting on base and driving runs in using at times the most humble ways possible. Manager Brandon Hyde was ejected in the third inning for arguing balls and strikes.

Baltimore Orioles: Powder blue hue to an Orange Crush

Tomoyuki Sugano had his struggles this afternoon for the Baltimore Orioles. First off, Toronto came up swinging early, and he wasn’t getting borderline pitches at home plate. And Toronto wasn’t hitting the ball hard, they were fouling off pitch after pitch, driving up Sugano’s pitch count. Sugano’s line: 4.2 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 0 K.

Toronto put a run on the board in each of the first three innings, including former Oriole Anthony Santander hitting his first home run in a Toronto uniform in the third. Speaking of uniforms, the O’s wore their all-orange uniforms for the first time since 2010. They wore them in the early 70’s, but it was short-lived; they’ll wear these uniforms for every Saturday home game.

And Toronto followed suit, wearing their own alternate uniforms, all in powder blue. And that was all we saw for the first half of the game – those powder blue dressed guys celebrating. Oriole bats squared up a lot of pitches; they were just balls hit to fielders.

But this lineup is too good to go that quietly. The Orioles couldn’t get a base runner until the fifth inning when Cedric Mullins drew a one-out walk. Two hitters later Heston Kjerstad recorded the Orioles’ first hit of the game. Funny thing though, that one hit changed the scope of the game. Because it was a two-run homer that cut the Toronto lead to 3-2, and propelled the Birds back into the game.

One inning later it was tied following an Adley Rutschman solo home run. The O’s would later put two runners on base, and Cedric Mullins broke up the tie with a two-RBI double. He would also take third on a throwing error, and before you knew it the Orioles had the lead.

Toronto would push one across in the seventh when Guerrero grounded into a double-play with a runner on third, setting up Felix Bautista’s first save opportunity since 2023 in the ninth with a one-run lead.

With two outs Toronto had two runners in scoring position, and Bichette striding to the plate. It’s never easy with Toronto. However Bautista sent Bichette down swinging, netting his first save since August of 2023, and sending the Orioles home winners. That last part being the most inportant.

Backing up a bit, there was a big moment that occurred in the fifth that was really key. Santander had two runners on base and he flied out to right. However it ended up being a double-play, as the runners both tagged up however runner on first was found to have left too early. That helped keep the threat of a big inning down, keeping the game within reach.

To date, this was the biggest win of the season for the Orioles. Coming off of a semi-listless road trip, an off day, and a rain out, the O’s needed a spark to keep the season from spiraling. They got it. Not at the beginning, but they got it.

The series concludes tomorrow at Camden Yards. Cade Povich gets the start for the Orioles, and he’ll be opposed by Toronto’s Jose Berrios. Game time is set for just after 1:30 PM.