In the first series between the Orioles and Red Sox since late May, Baltimore will look to sweep a two-game set in Boston on Tuesday night.
After Trevor Rogers pitched seven innings of one-run ball in a series-opening 6-3 win on Monday, the Orioles will hand the ball to 35-year-old rookie Tomoyuki Sugano, who is set to face Boston for the first time in his career.
Sugano (10-5, 4.13 ERA) has not lost since July 2. The right-hander allowed just one run in each of his past two starts, the most recent being a Thursday outing against the Seattle Mariners, when he exited after 5 1/3 innings due to a 2-hour, 18-minute rain delay.
“Throwing strikes, good velocity, good split, good command,” Orioles interim manager Tony Mansolino said.
Sugano is the 10th Japanese-born pitcher to win 10 games during his rookie season in the U.S. major leagues.
The Orioles have turned things around following a 3-8 skid, earning five wins in their past six games. Pitching has been a key for Baltimore even longer than that, as the club’s 3.89 ERA is the American League’s fourth-best since the All-Star break. Before the break, the Orioles’ 4.92 ERA ranked next-to-last in the league.
In the series opener, the Orioles supported Rogers and two relievers by producing 12 hits. Gunnar Henderson recorded a triple, a homer, two RBIs and three runs to help lead the way.
The 24-year-old shortstop, who is 24-for-46 with runners in scoring position since the start of June, is being counted on more than ever after the likes of Cedric Mullins and Ryan O’Hearn were traded at the deadline.
“It’s hard to just go out there and play good baseball after some of your longtime teammates leave, but … we’re really starting to put it together,” Henderson said. “You try to lean on guys, but we don’t really have that long-tenured veteran. We’re just kind of leaning on each other.”
Meanwhile, the Boston lineup got a pre-series boost with the arrival of first baseman Nathaniel Lowe, who was signed on Monday after being released by the Washington Nationals.
The left-handed batter was not in the starting lineup against Rogers, a lefty, but he drew a ninth-inning walk as a pinch hitter and scored a run. In that frame, the Red Sox produced four of their six hits for the night and two of their three runs, but they still ended up with their second straight loss.
“Getting plugged into a lineup that’s having great success and being part of making a great postseason push is what it’s all about,” Lowe said.
Boston manager Alex Cora said he expects to platoon the 30-year-old newcomer with switch-hitting Abraham Toro.
“He’s excited to be here,” Cora said of Lowe. “We’ll use him against righties, certain lefties, pinch-hit him late and use him to maximize the roster.”
Boston’s scheduled Tuesday starting pitcher, Walker Buehler (7-7, 5.43 ERA), has had a mixed bag of recent outings. The right-hander served up two homers and four runs in his six-inning outing on Wednesday in a 4-1 loss to Houston after shutting out the San Diego Padres across six frames five days earlier.
“Tough one,” Buehler said of the contest at Houston. “There was a lot of 92 (mph) in there and kinda moving the ball around, but pitching a little bit and making a lot of pitches when I felt like I needed to — and you kinda lose it there in the sixth at the end.”
Buehler is 1-1 with a 2.16 ERA in three career starts against Baltimore, including a May 25 loss in which he gave up two runs on four hits in five innings.
–Field Level Media
