The Orioles’ best starter warmed in the bullpen, retired the side in order in the first inning on only nine pitches and sat, waited and wondered if he’d get back on the mound.

Long rain delays are the enemy of every manager who detests an unplanned bullpen game.

Tomoyuki Sugano wasn’t done, warming again and returning after a 57-minute stoppage. Large puddles had formed in front of the home dugout area. Sugano looked for a while like he’d make the night’s biggest splash.

Sugano’s scoreless streak reached 14 innings before the Royals pushed across a run in the fourth. Cavan Biggio hit his first home run in the fifth, and the Orioles still couldn’t solve Royals left-hander Kris Bubic in a 4-0 loss before an announced crowd of 19,348 at soggy Camden Yards.

The Orioles were trying to win three in a row for the first time since the three-game series in Minnesota that ended the 2024 regular season. Instead, they were shut out for the fifth time.

The Orioles have moved past a hard April, when they went 9-16 after a 3-2 March. Taking two of three games from the first-place Yankees had to feel good. Some of the heat lifted. However, there’s a long way to go. The temperature can fluctuate.

The homestand continues tonight with a series against the Royals, who beat them twice last month in Kansas City. The Orioles have won back-to-back games once.

“It hasn’t been smooth in any way,” manager Brandon Hyde told the media Wednesday night. “To win a series at home, to get an off-day, hopefully this is how we’re going to play going forward.”

You know what would help?

* Score more runs.

Through the Orioles’ first 30 games of the season, there have been plenty of “moments.”

14 games into the year, it felt as if an Adley Rutschman bat flip after a huge home run and a Cedric Mullins RBI triple could be a turning point. The energy had returned to Camden Yards, and the Birds were seemingly back on track. 

The next day, the O’s allowed three runs in the eighth inning against the Blue Jays and fell in extras. 

One week later, a Ramón Laureano two-home run game helped propel Baltimore to a 9-run outburst, with five runs coming against one of the best young arms in the game, Hunter Greene. 

The next day, the Orioles fell 24-2.

All of the same questions came at the Orioles earlier today as local media detached from the team during the road trip got to take turns. Any player approaching his locker was fair game.

What’s wrong and can it be fixed? What’s the mood in the clubhouse? What’s the level of frustration? Is anyone panicked? Should everyone be panicked?

The Orioles insist that they can get on a roll. Seasons aren’t lost in April. Players aren’t melting down over the defeats. Does no good to lose composure and faith.

As if trying to quiet the noise, the Orioles took the field tonight against the first-place Yankees and didn’t lose a game.

Tomoyuki Sugano tossed five scoreless innings with a career-high eight strikeouts, Ryan O’Hearn hit a three-run homer and the Orioles hung on for a 4-3 win before an announced crowd of 22,775 at Camden Yards. The victory is their second in the last eight tries and third in 10. They didn’t forget how to form the congratulatory handshake line.

Adley Rutschman and Cedric Mullins return to the Orioles’ lineup tonight in the series opener against the Yankees at Camden Yards.

Jordan Westburg remains out with a sore hamstring.

Heston Kjerstad is in right field and Ramón Laureano is in left. Ryan O’Hearn is the designated hitter.

Ramón Urías gets another start at third base, with Jackson Holliday playing second.

Rutschman owns a .416 on-base percentage against the Yankees, third-highest among catchers with a minimum 150 plate appearances, per STATS. Johnny Bassler is first at .433 from 1914-27. Rutschman’s mark is second-highest among active players behind Mike Trout’s .419.

WASHINGTON – The Orioles' offense had plenty of opportunities to cash in for a breakout inning in tonight’s 4-3 loss to the Nationals. Instead, they made smaller deposits. 

For the most part, pitching held up its end of the bargain. Sometimes, you can still win baseball games like that, even when you go 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position. In this case, the offense came up just short. 

“I’m really happy with how we played,” said Brandon Hyde after the game. “We play baseball like that, we’re going to win a lot of games.”

The Orioles' offense started the contest with three straight batted balls hit over 100 mph off the bats of Cedric Mullins, Gunnar Henderson and Adley Rutschman. Only one, a single from Rutschman, resulted in a hit. Despite the loud contact, Baltimore left the top of the first without a run. That would be a theme. 

“We hit a lot of balls hard that we weren’t rewarded for,” Hyde noted. “I thought we took really good at-bats for the most part.”

Left-hander Trevor Rogers made his first injury rehab start today at Double-A Chesapeake and gave up a two-run homer to Altoona’s Kervin Pichardo two batters into the game. Rogers worked three innings and allowed two runs and four hits with one walk and three strikeouts. He threw 44 pitches, 29 for strikes.

Rogers is on the injured list after dislocating his right knee in January.

Braxton Bragg made his Double-A debut and tossed 4 1/3 scoreless innings with three hits, two walks and eight strikeouts.

Silas Ardoin hit his second home run.

Heston Kjerstad stays in left field tonight for the Orioles, who continue their series against the Nationals in D.C., and Jackson Holliday remains at second base.

The music wasn't louder than usual and the strobe lights didn't shine brighter. The Orioles treated tonight’s game like the 18^th out of 162, with the mood leaning much more toward reserved than raucous.

They can go through their victory routine and maintain their perspective, but they’ve certainly earned the right to celebrate.

After all, they finally won back-to-back games and a series. Never sneeze at the small gains. And never forget that Tomoyuki Sugano was given $13 million to come to the U.S. for a reason.

Gunnar Henderson, Ryan O’Hearn and Heston Kjerstad homered, and Sugano became the first Orioles starter to work into the seventh inning in a 6-2 victory over the Guardians before an announced crowd of 16,201 at Camden Yards.

Sugano allowed two runs and five hits with no walks over seven innings, and the Orioles improved to 8-10. He threw 87 pitches, 55 for strikes, and received a nice ovation as he walked off the mound for the last time.

The Orioles will try to win their first series tonight and post their first back-to-back victories with Heston Kjerstad and Jackson Holliday staying in the lineup and Cedric Mullins batting leadoff.

Gunnar Henderson moves down to second in the order.

Tyler O’Neill is out of the lineup due to neck stiffness that forced him to be scratched yesterday. Ryan O’Hearn is playing right field.

Jordan Westburg is playing tonight, serving as designated hitter. He’s hitless in his last 20 at-bats.

Adley Rutschman slides down to third in the order.

An immediate take from yesterday’s 7-6, 10-inning loss to the Blue Jays is how reliever Jeff Hoffman should remember that the Orioles make another trip to Toronto and his team makes another trip to Baltimore. Be careful with that pucker or risk getting punched in the mouth. But there’s more.

Manager Brandon Hyde downplayed the latest short outing from a starter, pointing out how he handled them differently the past few games after an off-day and rainout, and with another break in the schedule today. But the bullpen is passing the baton too much, finally losing its grip yesterday in Toronto’s three-run eighth. The rotation needs to consume more innings, plain and simple.

Zach Eflin is on the injured list after going six innings in each of his three starts and posting a 3.00 ERA. He’s a huge loss for however long that it lasts.

Charlie Morton starts Tuesday night’s series opener against the Guardians at Camden Yards. He’s due like one of those bills from the record company that used to promise free albums if you returned their card by the deadline. Anyone with me here?

Morton has allowed four runs in 3 1/3 innings, five runs in five innings and four runs in five innings for a total of only 13 1/3.

The Orioles brought back their hydration station today, hoping to finally need it.

They weren’t hitting home runs. They weren’t doing much scoring. The first 13 batters were retired this afternoon. The dugout hoses were more decorative than functional.

And then, in a flash, they had a purpose again.

Heston Kjerstad cleared the center field fence in the fifth against Blue Jays starter Bowden Francis after Cedric Mullins walked. Adley Rutschman barreled a sinker with two outs in the sixth, took a couple steps and flipped his bat. The game was tied and Camden Yards was loud.

Mullins gave the Orioles a lead with a two-run double in the inning and the Orioles tied the club record with five double plays turned in a 5-4 victory before an announced crowd of 22,130.

Tomoyuki Sugano will be decked out in the all-orange uniform, last worn by the Orioles on Aug. 13, 2010, for today’s home debut against the Blue Jays.

Sugano faced the Blue Jays in his first major league game and allowed two runs in four innings before exiting with cramping in both hands. He held the Royals to one run in 5 1/3 innings in his next start.

Heston Kjerstad is in left field and Ryan Mountcastle is batting eighth. Ryan O’Hearn is the designated hitter.

Jordan Westburg is batting cleanup again and playing third base. Jackson Holliday is at second.

Mountcastle is 5-for-7 with two doubles and two home runs against Blue Jays right-hander Bowden Francis. Gunnar Henderson is 2-for-5 with a double.

A reset is nice, but the Orioles are ready to start playing again after an off-day and rainout.

The forecast was miserable last night and left the club with no choice except to reschedule. The extended break should end today.

The Orioles keep attracting more questions only 13 games into the season. Here are three random selections:

What’s happening with the rotation?

Only two starters were confirmed for the Blue Jays series and they won’t need a third. Tomoyuki Sugano is pushed back to today, decked out in an all-orange uniform, and Cade Povich is moved to Sunday, a spot that was listed as TBA.

Orioles fans must wait to finally watch Tomoyuki Sugano pitch on his home mound.

Tonight’s game against the Blue Jays has been postponed due to rain and will be made up as part of a split-admission doubleheader on Tuesday, July 29 at 12:35 p.m. The second game will begin as scheduled at 6:35 p.m.

Gates for game one will open at 11:35 a.m. and gates for the nightcap will open at 5:35 p.m. MASN will broadcast both games.

Fans with tickets for tonight will receive their same seat for game one of the doubleheader. Tickets for the originally scheduled July 29 game at 6:35 p.m. are still valid for that night. 

The first 10,000 fans attending the 12:35 p.m. game on July 29 will receive the clear stadium bag giveaway.

KANSAS CITY – The Orioles are 10 games into their 2025 season, losing six of them. They just dropped their first regular season series to the Royals since Aug. 30-Sept. 1, 2019. Their starters have remained on turn, which enabled the rotation to cycle through twice.

Young left-hander Cade Povich allowed a career-high 13 hits yesterday, three more than in his Aug. 29 start at Dodger Stadium. But in that disaster, Povich lasted only 3 1/3 innings and was charged with five runs.

It was his second-worst outing after going one-plus innings in Oakland on July 6 and surrendering eight runs and five hits with three walks and a pair of homers.  

What happened yesterday at Kauffman Stadium demonstrated how much Povich has grown as a pitcher. He made it through six innings to save the bullpen and kept the Orioles within striking distance if their bats had cooperated. Povich allowed four runs, but three in the first inning were preventable if a fly ball in right-center field was caught.

If you believe that everything else would have stayed the same, the next batter flying out gives Povich a 1-2-3 inning instead of a sacrifice fly on his line. Two singles and Michael Massey’s two-run double put the Orioles in a 3-0 hole.

KANSAS CITY – Tomoyuki Sugano has made two starts in the majors and pitched with the roof closed in Toronto and with a game-time temperature of 47 degrees at windy Kauffman Stadium. His exposure to intense heat and humidity is coming in the summer months. He’s going through a cooling down period before he ramps up.

Sugano didn’t experience any cramping in his hands today and he wasn’t soaked in sweat. He made the Royals uncomfortable through the fifth inning before a long break altered the course of his outing. A slight detour rather than a derailment.

Bryan Baker entered with one out in the sixth and coaxed a double play, and two other relievers handled the rest in an 8-1 victory over the Royals before an announced crowd of 14,383.

The Orioles sent nine batters to the plate in the top of the sixth and scored four times for a 6-0 lead. They improved to 4-5 and can win the series Sunday afternoon before flying to Arizona.

The big inning included a bases-loaded, two-run single for Jackson Holliday against left-hander Sam Long. Heston Kjerstad went left-on-left earlier with an RBI single after Long replaced starter Michael Wacha.

KANSAS CITY – Gunnar Henderson wore a hooded sweatshirt and wool stocking cap as he charged ground balls at shortstop during today’s infield drills. The weather at Kauffman Stadium is cold and damp, but he managed to work up a sweat.

Henderson wiped his hair with a towel and pulled the cap onto his head again. The conditions are miserable, but he couldn’t have been happier. He’s playing for the Orioles again, ready to make his 2025 debut after recovering from a strained right intercostal. He didn’t need the sun to shine.

The Orioles reinstated Henderson from the injured list earlier today and optioned outfielder Dylan Carlson. Henderson is batting leadoff to start a three-game series against the Royals.

“It sucks having to watch your team play on TV. I’ll tell you that much,” said Henderson, who returned from a rehab assignment with Triple-A Norfolk.

“Obviously, was very disappointed that I wasn’t well enough for the Opening Day roster, but I was able to get my work in and I’m ready to go now.”

Gunnar Henderson is playing for Triple-A Norfolk again tonight in Charlotte. It could be the last game on his injury rehab assignment.

The Orioles need a little more time to decide.

Henderson is 5-for-16 with two home runs in four games with the Tides. He’ll stay on the field for seven-to-nine innings tonight.

The complication in reinstating Henderson is the 1:05 p.m. start time for Thursday’s game against the Red Sox. The travel is a consideration.

Otherwise, Henderson would make the trip to Kansas City for the weekend series against the Royals.

TORONTO – Tomoyuki Sugano smiled this morning as he walked in and out of the clubhouse and down a hallway, nothing about his expression or mannerisms hinting at a first major league start and accompanying case of nerves.

He warmed up, faced his first batter and issued a four-pitch walk.

It wouldn’t be the worst part of his day.

Sugano made it through four innings and 73 pitches, went back to the mound for the bottom of the fifth and couldn’t continue. Manager Brandon Hyde, pitching coach Drew French and head athletic trainer Scott Barringer checked on him, and Sugano flexed his right hand before heading to the dugout.

Matt Bowman, whose contract was selected today with Albert Suárez going on the injured list, took over in the Orioles’ 3-1 loss to the Blue Jays before an announced crowd of 21.069. Sugano allowed two runs and four hits, with two walks and one strikeout before exiting due to unspecified “cramping.”

TORONTO – Orioles reliever Albert Suárez went on the 15-day injured list this afternoon with right shoulder inflammation, a move that’s backdated to yesterday.

Matt Bowman’s contract was selected from Triple-A Norfolk. He’s wearing No. 51.

The 40-man roster is full.

Suárez allowed one earned run and two total with five hits in 2 2/3 innings Friday night, and his fastball velocity was about two mph lower than his average in 2024. Bowman gives the bullpen a fresh arm and one capable of providing length.

The Orioles selected Bowman’s contract last Sunday on his opt-out date, designated him for assignment before Opening Day and outrighted him to Norfolk. He made 15 appearances with the Orioles last season and posted a 3.45 ERA in 15 2/3 innings.