Tomoyuki Sugano, O’s eager to end skid in finale at Milwaukee

The task of halting the Orioles’ eight-game slide falls on veteran right-hander Tomoyuki Sugano as Baltimore looks to avoid being swept by the host Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday in the finale of the three-game series.

Sugano (4-3, 3.08 ERA) will be opposed by rookie right-hander Chad Patrick (2-4, 3.35).

The Brewers won 5-2 on Tuesday night behind rookie Logan Henderson, who allowed two hits over five scoreless innings to become the first pitcher in franchise history to win his first three major league outings.

Brice Turang, Sal Frelick and Rhys Hoskins each homered for the Brewers, who have won three straight games.

Patrick took a loss his last time out, allowing three runs in six innings in a 3-0 setback against the Minnesota Twins on Friday. After going 1-2 with a 1.82 ERA across five starts in April, Patrick is 1-2 with a 4.37 ERA in four starts this month.

“Chad Patrick continues to show he has the right stuff, meaning the right insides to pitch up here and pitch in big situations,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said following Patrick’s latest appearance.

Opponents are batting .258 against Patrick, with four homers in 48 1/3 innings.

Milwaukee right-hander Abner Uribe, pitching for the third consecutive game, struck out the side in the ninth inning Tuesday for his first save of the season. He is unscored upon in his last 13 outings, with 21 strikeouts in 12 innings over that span.

Hoskins has been one of the Brewers’ hottest hitters, batting .346 over his past 32 games with six homers, eight doubles and 22 RBIs.

Brewers outfielder Jackson Chourio, who hit .275 with 21 homers and 79 RBIs last season as a rookie, singled in the fifth inning on Tuesday to snap a 0-for-24 streak. Chourio’s average has dropped from .267 on May 9 to .237. He is hitting .176 this month.

The Orioles are winless in four games under interim manager Tony Mansolino, who took over after Brandon Hyde was fired Saturday. Baltimore is 3-14 in May.

With the three homers allowed Tuesday, Baltimore pitchers have given up a major-league-high 75 long balls. Sugano served up nine of those homers.

Sugano, 35, is in his first season in the major leagues after 12 seasons in Japan. He had allowed three runs or fewer in each of his first eight starts this year before giving up four runs in 6 1/3 innings his last time out, a 4-0 loss to Minnesota on Thursday.

Sugano, who has worked at least six innings in each of his past three starts, has never faced the Brewers.

Based on his experience, Sugano was asked after his last start what the Orioles needed to do to get out their rut, which has since mushroomed.

“I think about it every day how to get out of this, but I’m pretty sure all the guys are thinking the same thing,” Sugano said through a translator. “I don’t try to think about how to fix this, but I just try to work on things on a day-to-day basis.”

Baltimore right fielder Ramon Laureano was removed from the Tuesday game after hurting his left ankle pursuing a fly ball. Mansolino said postgame, “It sounds like it’s going to be kind of day-to-day.”

–Field Level Media