Rookie Tomoyuki Sugano pitched 5 1/3 strong innings before a lengthy rain delay, helping the Baltimore Orioles beat the Seattle Mariners 5-3 on Thursday.
Seattle’s Julio Rodríguez homered after play resumed, but the Mariners were unable to overcome the early deficit.
The loss was Seattle’s second in a row after an eight-game winning streak, dropping the team to 67-55 and 1 1/2 games behind AL West-leading Houston.
Sugano, 35, from Japan, earned his 10th win of the season and has now won back-to-back starts for the first time. He threw 81 pitches before the game was halted for 2 hours and 18 minutes due to rain.
Over his last four outings, he is 3-0 with a 2.31 ERA.
Rodríguez’s two-run shot off reliever Rico Garcia in the sixth inning cut the Orioles’ lead to 5-2. The homer landed in the right-center bleachers on Garcia’s fourth pitch after the delay.
Seattle was without catcher Cal Raleigh in the starting lineup for only the fifth time this season.
Raleigh, who leads the majors with 45 home runs, pinch-hit in the ninth and drew a walk.
The Orioles took control in the fourth inning against Mariners starter Logan Evans (6-5). Jordan Westburg scored on a two-out wild pitch, with Ryan Mountcastle moving from first to third on the same play after Evans failed to handle catcher Mitch Garver’s throw. Daniel Johnson walked, and Mountcastle scored on a double steal with Johnson, who then scored on Jeremiah Jackson’s RBI single.
Baltimore added to the lead in the fifth with Gunnar Henderson’s RBI double and Mountcastle’s sacrifice fly.
Evans allowed three runs — two earned — over four innings, matching the shortest outing of his 15-start career.
Reliever Keegan Akin preserved Baltimore’s advantage in the seventh by getting Josh Naylor to ground out with two runners on, keeping the score at 5-2.
Dietrich Enns gave up Randy Arozarena’s RBI grounder in the ninth but retired Naylor on one pitch for his first save since September 2021.
Mariners right-hander Luis Castillo (8-6, 3.19 ERA) will start Friday’s series opener against the New York Mets.
©2025 Cox Media Group
