Tomoyuki Sugano didn’t allow a run today while he was on the mound and the Orioles kept manufacturing them.
They were able to control everything except the weather.
Sugano shut out the Mariners over 5 1/3 innings before a series of storms forced a stoppage that lasted 2 hours and 18 minutes in the Orioles’ 5-3 victory before an announced crowd of 14,083 at Camden Yards.
The Orioles are 55-66 overall and 7-14 in rubber games. They went 5-1 against the Mariners and are 13-5 since the beginning of 2023.
The 5-0 lead in the fifth inning represented the most runs scored since Aug. 6 in Philadelphia. They came on a wild pitch, double steal, single, double and sacrifice fly.
Sugano was charged with a run after Rico Garcia replaced him with Josh Naylor on first base and Julio Rodríguez hit an opposite-field homer. He’s held opponents to one run in three of his last four starts.
Sugano allowed three hits and threw 81 pitches before the first downpour led to a call for the tarp, but not until interim manager Tony Mansolino came out of the dugout to confront plate umpire Austin Jones. Sugano had retired the first batter in the sixth, gave up a single and showed no interest in continuing with his start. He wasn’t used to these conditions in Japan.
Rodríguez stepped out of the box after Mansolino returned to the dugout. The grounds crew remain seated in their shed and had to sprint onto the field to cover it.
The shower was brief. The crew applied a drying compound and raked the dirt but didn’t roll up the tarp. That was a bad sign.
A field prepped and ready was covered again as the sky grew dark and it began to pour again.
Mansolino and Seattle manager Dan Wilson had inspected the infield with crew chief Mike Muchlinski and another umpire before the second deluge. Their motivations weren’t in sync. The Orioles led 5-0 in an official game. The Mariners didn’t want to concede the loss while in a playoff race.
So we waited. And waited.
Eugenio Suárez singled off Garcia with two outs in the sixth and Daniel Johnson made a diving catch in center to rob Dominic Canzone. Keegan Akin’s last six appearances since the trade deadline came in the ninth inning, but he entered today in the seventh and stranded two runners.
Kade Strowd retired the side in order in the eighth and Dietrich Enns recorded his third career save and first since 2021 with the Rays after allowing a run in the ninth on a bases-loaded fielder's choice grounder from Randy Arozarena. Jackson Holliday ran to the bag for the out but threw late to first.
Naylor almost hit a home run in the first inning, with the ball hooking foul, and he lined a fastball 104.9 mph to right field for a single. Jeremiah Jackson played the carom and threw out Naylor at second base.
Canzone walked with one out in the second and Sugano retired the next eight batters. Canzone led off the fifth with a double and was stranded.
Run support is scarce from the Orioles, who lost 1-0 Tuesday and trailed by the same margin last night until scoring three times in the seventh.
Rookie Logan Evans put a runner on base in each of the first four innings, and the Orioles finally led 1-0 in the fourth when Jordan Westburg dashed home on a wild pitch. Westburg drew a leadoff walk and reached third base on Ryan Mountcastle’s one-out single. Coby Mayo popped up and a curveball got past catcher Mitch Garver.
Westburg slid into Evans, who fell on top of him and needed an athletic trainer to check his right hand.
Johnson singled and got caught in a rundown as Mountcastle broke for the plate and beat the throw. Mountcastle also stole home May 30, injured his hamstring and missed over two months.
Jackson singled for a 3-0 lead. He broke last night’s tie with a pinch-hit triple.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Mountcastle is the fourth Oriole to steal home twice in a season. He joins Doug DeCinces in 1980, Davey Johnson in 1971 and Don Buford in 1970.
Evans came out of the game after the fourth with his pitch count at 70, and Carlos Vargas allowed two runs in the fifth. Holliday walked with one out, Westburg was hit by a pitch and Gunnar Henderson followed with an RBI double. Mountcastle’s fly ball brought home Westburg.
And then it rained.
The Orioles didn’t announce their starters for the Astros series. Houston is starting left-hander Framber Valdez and right-handers Jason Alexander and Cristian Javier.
Kyle Bradish is making another rehab start tonight with Triple-A Norfolk, and it could be his penultimate outing before the Orioles reinstate him.