O’Hearn’s homer, Mullins’ catch, Sugano’s strikeouts lead Orioles past Yankees, 4-3

BALTIMORE- What happened? Moments before the Orioles began their Monday night game against the New York Yankees came the news that infielder Jordan Westburg had gone on the 10-day injured list along with backup catcher Gary Sánchez.

It’s been a challenging season for Westburg, who is hitting just .217 with four home runs and six RBIs, and he’s been hurt for much of the season. His left hamstring strain will keep him out until at least May 7^th.

“Hopefully, it’s not too long,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “Hopefully, it’s not much more than the 10 days. He’s been playing beat up all year and that Toronto series, I took a lot of heat for sitting him in that fourth game after he hit two homers in the third game of that series, and he could barely get in the clubhouse the next day because he was so sore and he’s been trying to grind through it.

“We gave him some days off. Then he tweaked his hammy a couple of days ago or night on a throw in the bottom of the eighth, so hopefully, get the hammy right, get the body right, and be good to go for the last five months.”

Sánchez is hitting just .100 (3-for-30), and he’s out with inflammation in his right wrist.

After the news, the Orioles beat the Yankees, 4-3, before 22,775 at Camden Yards. The Orioles (11-17) had lost six of seven.

Tomoyuki Sugano struck out eight. In his first five starts, he’d struck out nine. Sugano (3-1) allowed five hits and walked two. He escaped a bases-loaded jam in the first when Anthony Volpe hit into a force. In the fifth, with two outs and a runner at first, Cedric Mullins leaped and caught Paul Goldschmidt’s drive to center on its way out of the ballpark, saving two runs. Sugano stayed on the field to thank Mullins for the play.

“It affected me big time,” Sugano said through his translator. “If it wasn’t for that catch, we might not have won. So, big-time play.”

After enduring a road trip where they were just 6-for-60 with runners in scoring position, Mullins led off the first with a single, and Gunnar Henderson doubled him to third, but they didn’t score against Will Warren (1-1).

Jackson Holliday singled, and Ramón Laureano doubled for a 1-0 lead in the second.

Ryan O’Hearn hit a three-run home run in the third, his fifth, and the lead was 4-0.

“Little exhale in the dugout after what we’ve been through lately and the road trip we went on and tough time scoring runs, tough time winning games,” Hyde said. “Three-run homer there, that was a huge hit.”

O’Hearn has seen so many injuries this season and wonders when the Orioles will see players return.

“Yeah, it can be deflating, you know?” O’Hearn said. “Westy is a huge part of this lineup and this team, and we need him back as soon as possible. But it’s kind of the nature of the game. We experienced it a lot last year, especially. Hopefully, we can avoid more guys dropping like that. We get Westy back as soon as possible, get him healthy.”

Keegan Akin retired each of the four batters he faced. Yennier Cano allowed an unearned run in the seventh that scored on Aaron Judge’s forceout.

Gregory Soto gave up two runs in the eighth on consecutive run-scoring doubles by Volpe and Austin Wells. Félix Bautista polished off the Yankees for his fourth save, striking out Judge and Cody Bellinger to end the game.

After O’Hearn’s home run, the Orioles had just three hits in the final six innings.

How different was Sugano this time? Hyde thought there was a difference.

“Strikeouts. I thought he was great,” he said. “Such a tough lineup to get through two-plus times because of their elite ability to not chase pitches and control the strike zone. The fellow hitting second for them [Judge] is just such a tough out. Just really impressed. The ability to move the ball around the strike zone and change speeds, to pitch, it’s kind of a lost art in today’s game. And it’s refreshing. He dumps curveballs in for strikes, I liked the split tonight, being able to locate his fastball to both sides.”

Sugano’s comfort with pitching stands out.

“He’s got a lot of composure,” Hyde said. “I thought I saw a little bit more attitude and a little bit more intensity tonight coming off the field. He was super fired up when Ced caught that ball. It was a big play. He looked really focused tonight and you could tell he was into it.”

How many moves did the Orioles make on Monday? To take the places of Westburg and Sánchez on the 26-man roster, the Orioles purchased the contracts of catcher Maverick Handley and infielder Emmanuel Rivera from Triple-A Norfolk.

Handley has never played in the major leagues. Rivera hit .313 with four home runs and 14 RBIs last season but was later outrighted to Norfolk after he agreed on a $1 million contract.

The Orioles claimed left-handed pitcher Walter Pennington off waivers from Texas and optioned him to Norfolk.

Outfielder Colton Cowser and starting pitcher Grayson Rodriguez were both transferred to the 60-day injured list. Cowser’s fractured left thumb won’t allow him to play until late May. Rodriguez hasn’t begun to throw because of his right lat strain, and he’s weeks away from playing.

Earlier, the Orioles swapped out relievers with left-hander Grant Wolfram returned to Norfolk and Kade Strowd recalled. Strowd’s stay may be short because someone must be cut to make room for Kyle Gibson, who’ll start on Tuesday night.

What does it mean? It was an important win because Bautista polished off the Yankees in the ninth.

“I think this will be my first time pitching game one of the series,” Sugano said. “I know how important it is to take the first game of the series and that’s what I had in mind.”

What’s the word? “It’s what, April 28? It feels like we’ve been punched in the gut a little bit this first month, but I have all the confidence in the world in these guys, and we’re going to get it going.”-O’Hearn on the Orioles’ first month.

What’s the stat of the day? 13. The Orioles and Los Angeles Dodgers are tied for the most players on the injured list, 13.

Sánchez and Westburg join Cowser, Rodriguez, Kyle Bradish, Zach Eflin, Andrew Kittredge, Chayce McDermott, Tyler O’Neill, Cody Poteet, Trevor Rogers, Albert Suárez and Tyler Wells on the IL.

What’s next? Kyle Gibson will make his first start for the Orioles against Carlos Ródon (3-3, 3.50) on Tuesday night at 6:35.

Call for questions: Most weekdays, I’ll be answering at least one Orioles question. Please send yours to: Rich,@BaltimoreBaseball.com