ARLINGTON, Texas — The secret might be out on Tomoyuki Sugano. The 35-year-old pitcher, who made the leap to Major League Baseball this season after a storied career in Japan, had made a living on precision forcing weak contact.

Last year, when he pitched 156 2/3 innings for the Yomiuri Giants, he walked 16 batters and allowed six home runs. He was dominant, not in a strikeout-heavy manner but in his ability to command several pitches and paint the corners. When he moved to Baltimore, committing himself to a new challenge in the twilight of his career, Sugano impressed with that same approach.

But there has been a stark difference in the Sugano who took the league by surprise early this season and the Sugano of late, and it reared its head as the Orioles (37-49) lost 6-0 to the Texas Rangers (43-44) on Wednesday night at Globe Life Field.

Sugano was battered. He allowed a career-high 10 hits to the Rangers, one start after allowing a career-high seven runs. The last month has been a challenge for Sugano, who sports an 8.87 ERA in five outings since June 6. In that span, he has conceded 22 earned runs in 22 1/3 innings, and the long ball has been a considerable weakness.

“I think one thing is the walks that I give out,” Sugano said through team interpreter Yuto Sakurai. “And also the missed pitches, leaving [them] in the zone. But, more than anything, I think it’s more about the combination of pitches that I throw.”

In Wednesday’s series finale, Texas blasted two homers against Sugano. The Tampa Bay Rays launched three last week. The recent uptick isn’t that much of an outlier, considering Sugano has now given up 19 homers in 17 career major league starts — tied for the third-most homers allowed in the American League.

Plus, Sugano has allowed at least one homer in eight of his last nine appearances.

“I think the league has kind of seen him a little bit, and the scouting report is out a little bit,” interim manager Tony Mansolino said. “I think it’s just the importance of getting pitches to the locations he wants is probably incredibly important right now, even more so than early in the year, just because it’s not as new.”

When he walked off the mound two outs into the fifth inning, it marked the fourth time in his last five starts that Sugano had failed to complete five frames.

On Wednesday, he was hurt by a pair of two-out run-scoring hits. In the third inning, a walk and single brought Marcus Semien to the plate with two on and two outs. For as solid as Sugano’s command has been at times, he lost it with his first pitch to Semien. He hung a sweeper thigh high and just on the outer third of the plate. Semien crushed it for a three-run shot.

Sugano opened the fourth with a pair of singles against him, and after two strikeouts put him on the verge of escaping a jam, Ezequiel Duran dug out a better-placed sweeper for a two-run single. And, to begin the fifth, Corey Seager lifted a splitter for a solo homer.

“Just missing locations tonight,” Mansolino said, “and paid the price for it.”

A better performance from Sugano might not have led to a different result, anyway, considering how tepid the Orioles’ offensive performance proved. Jackson Holliday lashed a leadoff single against right-hander Nathan Eovaldi, but Baltimore managed just one other hit against the starter in five innings.

The Orioles stumbled to their ninth shutout loss of the season, which surpasses the eight suffered in 2024 — and there’s still half a season to play. Three of those shutout losses have occurred within the last two weeks.

“Would love to see the second half of that game, probably a few more knocks, a few more runs kind of put up right there, but it wasn’t our night tonight,” Mansolino said.

As Mansolino noted, Texas boasts one of the best pitching staffs in baseball. But the series loss in Arlington accompanies a mediocre stretch since early June.

The Orioles won six straight games from May 30 to June 5. Since then, Baltimore is 12-13. With the trade deadline approaching at the end of July, the Orioles aren’t playing like a team that can convince a front office to keep its pieces together.

News and notes

• Outfielder Tyler O’Neill will join the team in Atlanta, having recovered from a shoulder impingement that required a rehab assignment.
• The Orioles placed left-hander Keegan Akin on the 15-day injured list with left shoulder inflammation, an ailment that had been bugging him for his last few appearances, interim manager Tony Mansolino said. To replace Akin, the Orioles recalled right-hander Yennier Cano.
• To gain another fresh arm, Baltimore designated right-hander Matt Bowman for assignment and selected the contract of right-hander Corbin Martin. Martin made his Orioles debut Wednesday and pitched well, allowing one hit and striking out two in 1 1/3 innings.
• Infielder Jordan Westburg missed his fifth straight game with an aggravated left index finger. Mansolino said Westburg would be available off the bench, but Westburg wasn’t used. The Orioles have a day off Thursday before starting a three-game series against the Braves.
• For that Braves series, right-hander Charlie Morton will pitch Friday’s opener. He was pushed back a few days due to low-grade elbow tendinitis but is fine now, Mansolino said. Morton began his career with Atlanta and pitched five years for the club, as recently as last season.

This article has been updated.