Suárez extends scoreless streak with 3rd straight gem

BALTIMORE -- The surprise success being had by Albert Suárez during his return season to MLB isn’t coming as much of a surprise anymore.

At this point, the Orioles are expecting these types of outings from the 34-year-old right-hander.

Suárez turned in yet another scoreless gem on Sunday afternoon, blanking Boston for six innings in Baltimore’s 4-2 win at Camden Yards. He extended his scoreless streak to a career-long 17 2/3 innings, as his previous best was a 12 2/3-inning run from May 10-31.

Not bad for a hurler who, before this year, hadn’t pitched in MLB since 2017. Now Suárez is pitching in the most meaningful games of his career amid a pennant race, trying to help the O’s (73-52) win a second consecutive American League East title.

“For me, I don’t see it as ‘big games,’ just a game where I have to go out there and then give everything I’ve got,” said Suárez, who spent the previous five seasons in Japan (2019-21) and Korea (‘22-23). “So for me, I think every game is a big game, and obviously, if the team wins, we feel good about it.”

The beginning of Suárez’s latest scoreless stretch coincided with his Aug. 6 emergency start in Toronto, where right-hander Grayson Rodriguez (right lat/teres strain) was scratched only minutes before the game. Suárez stepped up and delivered five dominant frames, then followed that with a career-long 6 2/3-inning performance at Tampa Bay last Sunday.

Of Suárez’s 17 starts, eight have been scoreless. No pitcher in MLB has more scoreless starts in 2024 (with a minimum of two innings pitched in each outing), as Cincinnati’s Hunter Greene, Atlanta’s Reynaldo López and Seattle’s Bryce Miller are tied for second with seven.

“That’s an amazing stat. I heard about that before his last one,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “I thought the fastball once again got better as the game went on. His pitch mix has really improved over the course of this year. A lot more confidence in his changeup.”

Suárez scattered seven hits, didn’t issue any walks and notched a season-high-tying six strikeouts, while lowering his ERA to 3.18 over 25 games.

“Today, we were just shut down by Mr. Suárez,” Boston first baseman Triston Casas said. “He pitched a really good game, keeping us off-balance with the changeup and honest with the cutter.”

Suárez induced 16 whiffs, including 11 with his four-seam fastball -- both matching career highs. Of his 99 pitches, 60 were four-seamers.

All season, Suárez has leaned on his reliable heater, which averaged 94.8 mph and maxed out at 97.3 on Sunday. The 6-foot-3, 235-pound righty feels the pitch is improving because of the work he’s been doing in the weight room in between starts.

Is it possible that Suárez -- despite some rough patches while bouncing back and forth from the rotation and the bullpen earlier this year -- is now only getting better?

“For sure,” catcher Adley Rutschman said. “It seems like he just comes out with a convicted plan every single time. I think that he trusts that his stuff is good, and everyone else around him believes it and he does, and he’s doing great.”

Despite Suárez’s previous two scoreless outings, the O’s lost each of those games -- 5-2 to the Blue Jays on Aug. 6 and 2-1 to the Rays last Sunday.

This time, the Orioles gave Suárez ample run support. Rutschman opened the scoring with a fifth-inning leadoff homer off Red Sox starter Kutter Crawford. Then, Baltimore plated three runs in the sixth, a rally capped by Gunnar Henderson’s 33rd home run of the season -- a two-run shot off left-hander Bailey Horn.

With Rodriguez on the injured list for the second time -- and Kyle Bradish, John Means and Tyler Wells all out for the season after undergoing UCL surgeries in June -- the Orioles likely wouldn’t be a top AL contender if not for Suárez. He has repeatedly stepped up big for the staff, and especially over the past two weeks.

Baltimore, which split the four-game set, has won the season series vs. Boston (65-58) by improving to 7-3 against the Sox with only three meetings remaining (Sept. 9-11 at Fenway Park). That means the O’s would have the edge in any potential standings tiebreaker between the two teams.

As the regular season winds down over the next six weeks, Suárez will get plenty of opportunities to deliver more strong starts to cap his comeback campaign. And after a long, multi-country journey, he’ll continue to be thankful each day he pitches.

“It means a lot. Every time I’m out there and being able to help the team, I give everything I got,” Suárez said. “To me, it’s a positive thing. And then, if I get positive results, it’s even better.”