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.
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. They were trying to win four in a row for the first time since June 26-29, 2024.
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.
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.