The Orioles entered Sunday’s game riding some of the strongest momentum of the 2025 season. Unfortunately, the good vibes finally came to an end this afternoon. Tomoyuki Sugano allowed three home runs before exiting the game with an injury, and Baltimore’s offense ran out of firepower in a 5-2 loss to Los Angeles.
The best player in baseball made his presence felt immediately. Shohei Ohtani entered the contest 2-for-2 with a walk against Sugano, but today’s first pitch marked the first time the two
batters squared off in America. Ohtani took the first pitch inside, but he sent the second one 411 feet over the fence.
Sugano allowed a pair of singles but eventually retired Miguel Rojas to end the threat. He bounced back with a clean second, but Ohtani returned in the third. This time Ohtani took a pair of balls before launching his second home run of the game. The blast provided the Dodgers a two-run advantage, but they didn’t need to wait for Ohtani’s third at bat to strike again.
Mookie Betts stepped in and clobbered LA’s third solo homer of the day. The back-to-back jacks extended the lead to three, while Baltimore went hitless over the first three frames.
Rojas started the fourth inning with a single before stealing second. Hyeseong Kim followed with a grounder up the middle, and Sugano stuck his foot out to knock the 95.6 MPH comebacker down. Sugano’s leg prevented the ball from reaching the outfield, but both runners reached the corners safely. To make matters worse, Sugano suffered an injury on the play. The play marked the third consecutive game that a Baltimore player exited the game early.
Grant Wolfram replaced Sugano and picked up a clutch first out by sending Enrique Hernández down swinging. Wolfram appeared to have a second out when the Dodgers squandered a squeeze attempt, but Alex Jackson fired a pickoff attempt wide of the bag. Rojas should have been caught dead to writes in between third and home, but he jogged in for the Dodgers fourth run of the game.
Wolfram remained in the game and posted a zero in the fifth. Kade Strowd struck out a pair during a clean sixth, and the Orioles finally started the rally in the bottom half.
Gunnar Henderson ripped a two-out single into right field, and Emmanuel Rivera sent a ball to the gap in left center. Rivera’s double got the Birds on the board and chased Clayton Kershaw from the game. Edgardo Henriquez entered to face Jackson, but the backup backstop smacked the second double of the inning to the same gap. Henderson raced home, and Baltimore trimmed the deficit to two.
Keegan Akin walked a pair but held the score in the seventh. Coby Mayo and Luis Vázquez both singled to put the tying run on base with one out, but the top of the order failed to take advantage. Dodgers reliever Justin Wrobleski struck out Jeremiah Jackson and Ryan Mountcastle to end the inning with Los Angeles still in control.
Yennier Cano did his part for Baltimore, but Wrobleski returned to the mound and struck out the side in the eighth inning.
Tony Mansolino turned to Rico Garcia in the ninth, and the Dodgers secured an insurance run. Garcia surrendered a leadoff single to Ben Rortvedt before walking Ohtani. Betts ripped a ball off the wall in left field for one of the longer RBI-singles you will see, and the Dodgers led 5-2 heading into the ninth. Ohtani finished the game 2-for-2 with two home runs, three walks, and three runs scored.
Dylan Carlson and Mayo struck out to start the inning, but Mateo kept the game alive with a single to center. Unfortunately, the Orioles failed to replicate their recent heroics. Jack Dreyer induced a harmless grounder by Vázquez to end the game.
The loss snapped a five-game winning streak for the Orioles against the two best teams in the NL West. Baltimore will rest tomorrow before hosting the Pirates for a three-game set.
