The punishment that Tomoyuki Sugano absorbed tonight in the first inning looked a lot worse on the scoreboard than on the field.
Still counts, though.
Aaron Judge poked a two-out single into right-center field at 88.2 mph, and Cody Bellinger followed with a looping single to right at 68.5. Giancarlo Stanton lined a sweeper the opposite way, the ball carrying only 358 feet but reaching the first row of fans above the out-of-town scoreboard.
The sequence didn’t seem alarming but it set the tone, with the Orioles losing to the Yankees 6-1 before an announced crowd of 37,675 at Camden Yards and guaranteeing a sub-.500 finish to the season.
Judge hit his 49th home run leading off the third, a full-count sweeper – the eighth pitch of the at-bat – staying fair down the left field line at 112.2 mph and landing deep in the lower section. That one was loud.
Sugano made his next-to-last start of the season, with his team-leading 30th expected next weekend in New York. The Orioles (73-82) were battered by injuries again this season, but they could count on him.
They weren’t getting any length tonight. Sugano’s pitch count climbed to 58 after the second inning and 87 after the third, and left-hander José Castillo replaced him.
The outing matched Sugano’s shortest in the majors. He had to leave his Sept. 7 start against the Dodgers after three-plus innings because Hyeseong Kim’s comebacker hit his foot.
Home runs remain an issue with Sugano, who’s allowed 30 this season, including nine in his last five starts. He’s tied with the Twins’ Bailey Ober for most in the American League.
Corbin Burnes led the Orioles last season with 22. John Means was the most recent to surrender 30 in 2021. Dylan Bundy holds the club record with 41 in 2018, followed by Jeremy Guthrie (2009), Scott McGregor (1986), Sidney Ponson (1999) and Robin Roberts (1963) with 35.
Yankees left-hander Carlos Rodón carried a shutout into the seventh inning before Coby Mayo’s two-out double scored Tyler O’Neill. He retired 10 in a row before Mayo’s single with one out in the fifth.
Gunnar Henderson singled in the first and Ryan Mountcastle in the second without the ball leaving the infield. Henderson stole his 27th base in 31 attempts.
Jazz Chisholm’s single off Castillo in the fifth scored Bellinger, and Trent Grisham had an RBI single off Yennier Cano in the sixth for a 6-0 lead.
Jose Espada entered in the seventh to become the 70th player used by the Orioles, tying the 2024 Marlins for the major league record. He tossed three scoreless innings with four strikeouts, and the only hit was Paul Goldschmidt’s popup in shallow right field that fell between three players.
Espada was making his second major league appearance and first since 2023 with the Padres.
* Adley Rutschman hit a tie-breaking home run at Triple-A Norfolk in the latest game on his rehab assignment. He walked three times and had a sacrifice fly.