Subscribe
Follow Us
Tomoyuki Sugano didn’t just earn his first Major League win on Saturday — he made a statement that’ll fire up the entire Orioles fanbase. After holding the Kansas City Royals to just one run over 5 1/3 innings, the 35-year-old rookie had this to say via interpreter Yuto Sakurai:
“I’m not here to win one game in the major leagues. I’m here to win day to day and, ultimately, get the championship.” via Chandler Rome on X, formerly Twitter.
Sugano, a two-time Sawamura Award winner in Japan (essentially their version of the Cy Young), looked like the decorated veteran he is after a shaky debut. Gone were the hand cramps and nerves that plagued his first outing. On Saturday, it was all poise and precision.
He allowed just five hits, one walk, and struck out four as the Orioles snapped a three-game losing streak with an 8-1 win at Kauffman Stadium. Even more impressive was Sugano’s pitch mix — six different offerings, from sweepers to splitters, cutters to curveballs — keeping the Royals off balance all afternoon.
Orioles defeat the Royals on Saturday, end losing skid
“He was really attacking the strike zone,” said catcher Gary Sánchez, who drove in two early runs. “All the pitches worked the way they were supposed to today.”
The biggest test came in the fifth. With runners on first and second and nobody out, Sugano buckled down and retired the next three batters. That momentum carried into a four-run sixth inning for Baltimore, giving Sugano all the run support he’d need.
The only blemish came when Bobby Witt Jr. took him deep in the sixth, but even that came after a long wait between innings in the frigid Kansas City weather.
Still, Sugano did his job — and he got the full treatment from the team afterward. The Orioles celebrated his milestone win with a beer shower, pushing Sugano through the clubhouse in a laundry cart.
“Typically in Japan, the beer shower only happens during the championship,” Sugano said. “So I was really happy to get that treatment. It made me feel like I want to succeed even more.”
Manager Brandon Hyde noted Sugano looked much more comfortable this time around. “Really good command like he had in Spring Training with all of his pitches,” Hyde said.
Baltimore’s bats backed him up big time. The Orioles’ 5-through-9 hitters combined for eight hits and all eight RBIs. Rookie Jackson Holliday went 3-for-4 with a two-run single, and Heston Kjerstad came up clutch against a lefty reliever, proving he deserves more at-bats.
With Colton Cowser sidelined, Kjerstad’s big knock could earn him more playing time — especially if he keeps delivering in high-leverage moments. The Orioles improved to 4-5, matching last season’s record through nine games — and we all know how that story ended. With Sugano looking like a stabilizing force in a rotation still missing key arms, Baltimore just might have found another piece of its winning formula.
