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Japanese star Tomoyuki Sugano will make his MLB debut on Sunday afternoon as the visiting Baltimore Orioles aim to win the four-game series with the Toronto Blue Jays.

The 35-year-old right-hander signed a one-year, $13 million contract with the Orioles in December.

He was 15-3 with a 1.67 ERA last season in Japan’s Central League in his 12th season with the Yomiuri Giants.

Sugano did not allow a run in his first 10 1/3 innings at spring training before he gave up five in 4 2/3 innings – a two-run double and three-run homer by Jazz Chisholm – against the New York Yankees on March 20.

“Facing a lot of the Yankees’ starters, getting a feel for how his stuff plays, and I think honestly he did exactly what he wanted to do,” Orioles catcher Adley Rutschman said.

Said Orioles manager Brandon Hyde: “Besides the two Chisholm at-bats, I thought he was pretty good. He got his pitch count up. It was good for him to face some guys he’s going to face during the season in the AL East.”

“My command gradually got better,” Sugano said. “The first couple innings, my command wasn’t there.”

He used the start to refine his splitter.

“My last outing, my splitter wasn’t quite there, so for the past week I have focused on throwing the splitter,” Sugano said. “I was able to do so in this game. It went well.”

The Orioles posted their second win in the series with a 9-5 victory on Saturday. Jordan Westburg hit two home runs in going 4-for-5.

Baltimore closer Felix Bautista had his first outing on Saturday, recording three strikeouts in the ninth to work around a double and a walk. He missed the 2024 season with elbow surgery. The Orioles are being careful with him, so he will not pitch on Sunday.

“I was hoping for a situation that was as low-pressure as possible,” Hyde said. “But it worked out and it was great to see him out there.”

Toronto will try to gain a series split behind the pitching of Chris Bassitt. The right-hander has had some problems with the Orioles, going 4-3 with a 5.01 ERA in eight career starts.

The Blue Jays could use a good outing from Bassitt because their bullpen has been busy, particularly on Saturday when starter Max Scherzer left after three innings with a tight right lat. Toronto used five relievers to cover the final six innings.

Scherzer allowed two runs on two-first inning home runs and retired his final seven batters. He said he felt the lat tightness during the warmup and that it comes from compensating for a persistent thumb issue.

“I couldn’t fully get through the ball,” Scherzer said. “I couldn’t really go after that last gear and really let the ball fly, really step on the gas. … I’m not the same pitcher when I have to back off intensity.”

Toronto’s Bo Bichette was 4-for-4 with a walk and has reached base in eight straight plate appearances.

“The most impressive part for me is he’s taking really borderline pitches and really zeroing in on a ball that he can hit hard, which I think is kind of the final step for Bo to go from great to elite,” Toronto manager John Schneider said.

–Field Level Media