Baltimore Orioles' Albert Suárez Makes History With Long-Awaited 6-Inning Gem

Albert Suárez completed 6.0 innings for the first time in nearly eight years on Friday, lifting the Baltimore Orioles to a tight victory over the Texas Rangers.

Jun 23, 2024; Houston, Texas, USA; Baltimore Orioles starting pitcher Albert Suarez (49) pitches against the Houston Astros in the first inning at Minute Maid Park. / Thomas Shea-USA TODAY Sports

After an extended hiatus from the big leagues, Albert Suárez has been easing his way back into things with the Baltimore Orioles this season.

And in his latest start against the Texas Rangers on Friday, Suárez made history.

Suárez tossed 6.0 scoreless innings in game two of the four-game series, allowing just three hits and zero walks. He only struck out two Rangers, but he still set the stage for the Orioles to come away with the 2-1 win.

The gem helped Suárez lower his ERA to 2.43 on the season, in addition to trimming his WHIP down to 1.247. He is now 4-2 with a 1.7 WAR through 17 appearances in 2024, 10 of which have been starts.

Beyond that, though, Suárez managed to complete six innings for the first time since July 3, 2016.

According to MLB.com's Sarah Langs, the seven years and 361 days between Suárez's six-inning outings is the longest drought of the sort in 27 years. Terry Clark once went eight years and 311 days between six-inning MLB outings, with his drought stretching from September 1988 to July 1997.

Albert Suárez went 6 innings for the first time in 7 years + 361 days, last doing so on 7/3/16

the last pitcher to go at least that long between 6+ IP MLB outings was Terry Clark, 8 years and 311 days, 9/11/88 to 7/19/97

h/t @EliasSports

— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) June 29, 2024

Suárez hadn't pitched at the MLB level at all since 2017, prior to the Orioles adding him to their rotation on April 17.

The right-hander made his big league debut with the San Francisco Giants in 2016, finishing his rookie season 3-5 with a 4.29 ERA and 0.5 WAR. He was moved to the bullpen full-time in 2017, going 0-3 with a 5.12 ERA and 0.0 WAR.

Suárez was eventually poached by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the Rule 5 Draft, only to get designated for assignment and stashed in the minors in 2018.

From there, Suárez decided to join the Tokyo Yakult Swallows of Nippon Professional Baseball, playing in Japan from 2019 to 2021. He then spent the 2022 and 2023 seasons with the Samsung Lions of the Korean Baseball Organization before coming back stateside this past fall.

Suárez got his first MLB win in 2,860 days when he helped the Orioles beat the Los Angeles Angels on April 22 earlier this season, which was the second-longest drought the league had seen since the 1950s.

The Venezuelan righty broke a similar streak Friday, once again doing his part to prop up an otherwise banged up Orioles rotation. Suárez initially joined Baltimore on a minor league deal, after all, and he only got a chance to start MLB games again when key arms like John Means, Kyle Bradish, Tyler Wells and Dean Kramer went down.

Regardless, the Orioles lead the AL East at 52-30, putting them on pace for a second-consecutive 100-win campaign.

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