In a season full of starts, there are some that seem to carry more weight than others, and the second game of Thursday’s doubleheader against the New York Mets felt like one of those for right-hander Tomoyuki Sugano.

This worked as a bookend. It was Sugano’s final appearance ahead of the All-Star break, and after his performance slid from early June to early July, this was his last chance to wash away that taste before he received extended time off.

The beginning, then, was not what Sugano was looking for. He immediately allowed a single and a double, and both runners scored in the first inning. But, despite battling recurring command issues, Sugano produced his best start in more than a month and looked like a better version of himself.

It came at the right time personally and for the team. The lineup continued its late surge from the first game Thursday, which allowed Baltimore to sweep the doubleheader against the New York Mets with a 7-3 victory. Those runs supported a better showing from Sugano.

“He’s a really successful and proud player who’s done incredible things in his career, and the way the last month went was probably the first time in his career he’s ever gone through that,” interim manager Tony Mansolino said. “To see him come out on top against a playoff-caliber team ... is something he should have a lot of pride in.”

When Thursday began, the Orioles signaled their probable trade deadline approach by sending right-hander Bryan Baker to the Tampa Bay Rays. They were 10 games under .500 at the time and lost in gut-wrenching fashion in Tuesday’s series opener against the Mets.

When Thursday ended, the Orioles were eight games under .500 (42-50) for the first time since May 6 — still not sitting pretty in the standings but at least closer to relevancy. General manager Mike Elias said Baltimore hadn’t committed to a complete sell-off ahead of the deadline. The two wins in one day help maintain that uncertainty for a while longer, at least.

What’s interesting about Sugano is he tends to improve as the outing prolongs. Part of that is because, when he is very poor, he’s out of the game before later-inning stats can be majorly impacted. But consider the fourth inning of his starts entering Thursday. He had pitched only one-third fewer fourth innings than third innings (16 2/3 compared to 17); Sugano entered with a 2.16 ERA in fourth innings while pitching to a 5.29 ERA in third innings.

Overall, Sugano entered with a 6.00 ERA in innings one through three. In innings four through six, his ERA was 2.39.

When he’s on, Sugano has showed the ability to maintain it deep into outings. Lately, that hasn’t been the case. Before Thursday, the 35-year-old hadn’t completed six innings since June 3. He dealt with a stretch of five straight outings that lasted five innings or fewer.

He returned in the sixth inning Thursday on a batter-to-batter basis, Mansolino said. If Sugano had faced trouble, he would have been pulled. Instead, he completed a clean frame to cap a quality start.

“He’s a tremendous pitcher,” catcher Alex Jackson said. “His execution, the way he moves the ball around, what he’s trying to accomplish, and he sticks to his plan. And he goes out there and competes.”

To commend this outing from Sugano is to examine it compared to the last month of games. Sugano began the season well, holding a 3.04 ERA after his seven-inning, one-run showing June 3 against the Seattle Mariners. After that, he posted an 8.87 ERA through five starts, and his two most recent ones were particularly poor.

“I haven’t been hit like this throughout my career,” Sugano said through team interpreter Yuto Sakurai. “But I just made sure I don’t doubt myself and stay confident with what I have.”

Thursday marked just the fourth homerless game for Sugano out of 18. The long ball has often caught him, and when he conceded a combined 13 runs in his last two outings, he gave up five homers.

The three runs the Mets scored in six innings were an improvement, but Sugano’s mechanics still may have been off. His calling card in Japan was his command. He hardly walked anyone. But he has struggled to spot his pitches the same way he has for much of this difficult stretch, and he finished with a 46% in-zone rate, according to Statcast.

To be effective, pitchers generally want to mix well-placed balls into their attack plans. But, for a pitcher who doesn’t draw swings and misses (he entered with a 17.7% whiff rate, which ranks in the sixth percentile in MLB), he should live closer to the strike zone. Many of the best pitchers average a 55-65% in-zone rate.

For the second time in four starts, Sugano walked three batters. Two of those came against Juan Soto, and the instance that led off the fourth inning led to one of the three Mets runs. Brett Baty’s two-out single drove in Soto from second. In the first inning, leadoff hits wound up scoring on a groundout and sacrifice fly.

Sugano’s velocity, which averaged 1 mph faster than usual, played a role in his success. He said during this stretch he has focused on improving his “weight distribution” as he throws. By better utilizing his legs, he can gain velocity.

There was another factor, potentially. Sugano’s family from Japan attended his outing.

“I obviously want to pitch well and do well for this game,” Sugano said. “So, yeah, for sure, it was motivating.”

The Orioles’ offense made up for the runs against Sugano quickly, and it began with a bloop and a blast in the second inning. Jackson, the sixth catcher to feature for the Orioles this year, dropped a shallow popup into right field for an RBI double. Then Jordan Westburg crushed a two-run homer.

In the fifth, Baltimore broke the deadlock again when Colton Cowser lined a two-out RBI single to center. A fielding error from Baty brought home another, and another two runs scored in the sixth to make the end of a long day comfortable.

This article has been updated.