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The managerial wheels were spinning inside Tony Mansolino’s head tonight in the first inning. The migraine didn’t set in until much later.
Tomoyuki Sugano escaped with only one run allowed against the Cardinals despite singles from four of the first five batters, but his opponent squeezed 32 pitches out of him. The count grew to 51 after the second, with Lars Nootbaar creeping halfway to the cycle with his two-run homer. Mansolino had to consider how the rest of the game would be covered if Sugano blew a chance to get deep into it.
Sugano gave up another single in the third as rain continued to fall, but he needed only six pitches to get back to the bench, and he retired the side in order on 11 in the fourth. Those early concerns were put to bed. The bigger worry was whether the Orioles could overcome the deficit.
They did after Ryan O’Hearn swatted a three-run homer in the fifth, but the Cardinals tied the game against Keegan Akin in the seventh and Nolan Arenado homered off Bryan Baker an inning later in a 7-4 victory over the Orioles before an announced crowd of 13,779 at Camden Yards.
Nolan Gorman and Jordan Walker had back-to-back triples off Baker in the eighth on fly balls that the Orioles couldn’t track cleanly in wet conditions and with Cedric Mullins on the bench for the third time in four games. Heston Kjerstad failed to make a sliding grab on the track in right-center as Jorge Mateo approached the ball - Statcast gave it a 95 percent catch probability - and Mateo stopped short of the center field fence and jumped too soon on Walker’s drive.
"We’ve got a guy that’s a rookie in the major leagues and then we have an infielder playing the outfield probably because of an injury situation right now," Mansolino said. "They played really well. It’s a wet night. It’s tough. The ball’s flying. Their outfielders made their plays, but there were a couple balls that when they were up in the air, it didn’t look super confident at times.
"I think the conditions were really tough tonight. Our guys did the best they could for what we’re asking. That’s we got."
Mateo said repetitions are making him more confident in the outfield, but the elements challenged him tonight.
"Yeah, it was pretty uncomfortable," Mateo said through interpreter Brandon Quinones. "Thankfully, the night sky was dark and you were able to see the ball, but with the rain and everything, it did make it a little uncomfortable.
"I tried to catch the ball. I was aware of where the wall was, but it just didn’t work out that way, and ultimately it landed where it did.”
Masyn Winn added a run-scoring single off Yaramil Hiraldo, making his major league debut, and the Orioles fell to 19-35. They went 1-for-14 with runners in scoring position and failed in their attempt to win four in a row for the first time since June 26-29, 2024.
"As I watched the at-bats, it felt competitive, it felt good, it felt like we were in it," Mansolino said. "A couple big hits here or there and it might’ve been a different story, but I appreciate the effort and the battle."
The bullpen needs a breather but there aren't any available.
"We’ve been on fumes for a few days," Mansolino said. "We’ve rolled off a few games here in a row. In the coaches room, we have the sheet, we know where we’re at, we’re talking to the players. We felt very fortunate here the last few days that’s it’s kind of set up perfectly for us, and it actually set up again pretty good for us tonight.
"Sugano got us into a good spot. Because of the 16, 17 or 18 games in a row that we’ve had, because of the doubleheaders, because of the long games, I think it just took its toll on us tonight. And that’s OK."
Pitching on Japanese Heritage Night at the ballpark, Sugano lasted 5 1/3 innings and was charged with three runs and eight hits with no walks and three strikeouts. Mansolino got 91 pitches out of him. It could have been a lot worse.
Sugano rebounded from the early struggles to retire 11 of 12 before Alec Burleson’s leadoff double in the sixth. Gunnar Henderson assisted with a diving catch of Iván Herrera’s line drive in the fifth, and Sugano snagged Willson Contreras’ liner to complete the inning.
"I think the biggest reason for being able to get out of that first inning and go through the second inning on was communication with Trompy (catcher Chadwick Tromp)," Sugano said via interpreter Yuto Sakurai. "Him catching me was the first time for me, but I think communicating with him well was key.”
Gregory Soto replaced Sugano with Burleson at third base and one out, and he struck out the next two batters. But the Cardinals greeted Akin with a leadoff walk and Nootbaar single, which he foolishly tried to stretch into a double. Winn singled to tie the game and Yennier Cano replaced Akin.
Nootbaar led off the first with a single, Winn struck out and three straight hits followed, with Contreras’ single giving St. Louis a 1-0 lead. The bases were filled with one out, but Nolan Arenado popped up and Gorman hit a comebacker to Sugano.
Nootbaar’s eighth home run came on a cutter after Walker led off with a single.
Ryan Mountcastle’s second double off Andre Pallante started a rally in the fourth. The Orioles loaded the bases with no outs after O’Hearn walked and the Cardinals infield botched another throw on an attempted force. It happened twice yesterday.
Mateo grounded out and Kjerstad bounced to second for an apparent double play, but Winn’s relay short-hopped Burleson and he couldn’t dig it out. The unearned run cut the lead to 3-1.
Ramón Urías reached on a roller up the third base line with one out in the fifth and moved up on a wild pitch. Henderson walked and the runners advanced on a balk, with Pallante going through with his delivery but holding onto the ball. Mountcastle struck out and O’Hearn gave the Orioles a 4-3 lead. O’Hearn has 16 hits in his last seven games and has reached base in 27 of his last 28.
A single and two stolen bases put Mateo on third base with one out in the sixth, but the Orioles couldn’t score. They also couldn’t get the necessary outs from the bullpen or outfield. Too much game and ground to cover.
"It seems to be kind of the story of us the last couple weeks with the doubleheaders and just kind of everything with the bullpen," Mansolino said. "Obviously we’re a little bit short going into tonight. We were short last night, still able to pull it out. The first two innings, the way it goes for Sugano probably wasn’t ideal for us, but he settled down, got us pretty deep into the game, probably more than what we were expecting at that point.
"The whole thing probably set up where we probably had four guys to cover three innings there that we felt really good about and set up good, the pockets set up good. It just didn’t go our way."
