Tomoyuki Sugano threw 7 1/3 impressive innings, Gunnar Henderson homered and hit an RBI triple and the Baltimore Orioles ended a five-game losing streak with a 4-1 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Friday night in Anaheim, Calif.
Sugano (4-2), who played 12 seasons in Japan before signing a one-year, $13 million contract with the Orioles, pitched his best game in the majors, allowing one run and three hits without walking a batter in the opener of a three-game series.
The Angels’ only run came across in the seventh when Yoán Moncado tripled and scored on a groundout by Taylor Ward.
Sugano got help from his bullpen, particularly Yennier Cano in the eighth. The Angels trailed 3-1 and had two on with one out and Zach Neto at the plate.
Neto fouled off seven consecutive pitches with a full count, then finally struck out swinging on the 13th pitch. Felix Bautista pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his seventh save.
Angels starter Kyle Hendricks was coming off his longest outing since the 2023 season, but he found trouble immediately against the Orioles.
Henderson homered with two outs in the first inning, his fourth of the season, and the Orioles added two runs in the second. Hendricks walked the first two batters of the inning before yielding an RBI single to Jackson Holliday.
One out later, Emmanuel Rivera added an RBI single to increase the Orioles’ lead to 3-0.
Hendricks settled in, keeping Baltimore off the scoreboard in the third, fourth and fifth innings. But in the sixth, the first two Orioles reached base on singles, spelling his departure.
Angels reliever Reid Detmers, coming off three outings in which he allowed 12 runs and recorded only one out, retired the next three hitters in succession to end the threat.
After the Angels cut their deficit to 3-1 in the seventh, Henderson’s two-out RBI triple in the ninth pushed Baltimore’s advantage to 4-1.
–Field Level Media
