Tomoyuki Sugano’s final start of the season saw him hit by home runs from both the Yankees’ captain and Stanton, resulting in his 10th loss.

Facing the New York Yankees again in his final start of the season, Baltimore Orioles’ Japanese pitcher Tomoyuki Sugano was struck hard by Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton, allowing 4 runs on 3 homers in just 4.1 innings before leaving the game. The Orioles fell 6-1 to the Yankees, handing Sugano his 10th loss of the year.

In the bottom of the first with two outs, Sugano faced Judge and threw an 83 mph slider on the outer edge that Judge pulled over the left field stands for his 53rd home run of the season, giving the Yankees an early lead. In the bottom of the second, facing the first batter Stanton, Sugano’s first pitch was a 93 mph four-seam fastball low in the strike zone, which Stanton drove the opposite way over the stands. The Yankees took a 2-0 lead thanks to these two home runs.

This marked the 59th time in their careers that Judge and Stanton both hit home runs in the same game, the second highest in Yankees history. Sugano alone was responsible for two of those games — the previous one on September 21 when he started at home against the Yankees, giving up a Stanton homer in the first inning and a Judge homer in the third. In that game, Sugano lasted only 3 innings, allowing 2 homers and 4 runs, and the Orioles lost 6-1, with Sugano taking his 9th loss of the season.

After an unexpected six-day break, Sugano faced the Yankees again but could not avoid giving up home runs. Besides the homers from Judge and Stanton, in the bottom of the second with two outs, Ryan McMahon hit a solo shot off Sugano for the third run. Sugano left after 4.1 innings, having allowed 4 runs. Coincidentally, the Orioles lost 6-1 again to the Yankees, and Sugano’s last two losses this season both came against New York.

At age 35, Sugano challenged Major League Baseball this season, appearing in 30 games and pitching 157 innings with 106 strikeouts. He gave up 173 hits including 33 home runs, allowed 85 runs with 81 earned runs, finishing with a 10-10 record and a 4.64 ERA.

Sugano spent 12 seasons with the Yomiuri Giants in Japan, surrendering 142 home runs. In 2019, he gave up a career-high 20 homers. This year, in his MLB debut season, he set a new personal best with 30 starts, the most among Orioles starters this year. His 10 wins ranked second on the team, just one behind Dean Kremer. Nationals’ Jake Irvin led MLB with 38 home runs allowed, Reds’ Zack Littell was second with 36, followed by Sugano’s 33. Twins’ Bailey Ober gave up 30 homers, ranking second in the American League.

The Yankees lead MLB with a total of 272 home runs this season, boasting seven players with 20 or more homers. The top three are Judge with 53, Trent Grisham with 34, and Jazz Chisholm Jr. with 31.