Holliday and Sugano help Orioles snap a 3-game skid with an 8-1 victory over Royals

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Jackson Holliday highlighted Baltimore's four-run sixth inning with a two-run single, Tomoyuki Sugano was solid through five-plus innings and the Orioles defeated the Kansas City Royals 8-1 on Saturday to snap a three-game skid.

Heston Kjerstad and Ramón Urías also had RBI singles in Baltimore's big inning. Gary Sánchez hit a two-run single in the second and Tyler O'Neill had a two-run triple in the seventh for the Orioles, whose five through nine batters went 8 for 19 with all eight RBIs.

Leadoff man Gunnar Henderson was 0 for 5 with four strikeouts, dropping to 1 for 9 since returning from a a right intercostal strain.

Sugano (1-1) got the first eight Royals hitters out and allowed one run and five hits in 5 1/3 innings. He struck out four, walked one and hit one batter.

Royals starter Michael Wacha (0-2) tossed 5 2/3 innings and gave up four runs and six hits with five strikeouts and one walk.

Bobby Witt Jr. hit his first homer of the season for Kansas City, a 399-foot shot to left field in the sixth.

After giving up back-to-back singles to start the fifth and pitching with a 2-0 lead, Sugano kept the Royals off the board, stranding the runners at first and second. The Orioles then responded with their four-run sixth.

Baltimore had 12 hits after entering the game tied for first in the American League in that category.

The teams will play the rubber game of the series Sunday. The Royals had seven series last season during which they won the first game and dropped the next two of the series. LHP Cade Povich (0-0, 6.23 ERA) will start for Baltimore and LHP Kris Bubic (1-0, 0.00 ERA) will take the mound for Kansas City.

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Baltimore Orioles relief pitcher Matt Bowman throws during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Kansas City Royals, Saturday, April 5, 2025, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Baltimore Orioles' Tyler O'Neill hits a two-run triple during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Kansas City Royals, Saturday, April 5, 2025, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Baltimore Orioles' Tyler O'Neill watches hit two-run triple during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Kansas City Royals, Saturday, April 5, 2025, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Baltimore Orioles relief pitcher Matt Bowman (51) and catcher Gary Sanchez celebrate after their baseball game against the Kansas City Royals, Saturday, April 5, 2025, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Kansas City Royals' Bobby Witt Jr. runs the bases after hitting a solo home run during the sixth inning of a baseball game, Saturday, April 5, 2025, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Baltimore Orioles starting pitcher Tomoyuki Sugano throws during the first inning of a baseball game against the Kansas City Royals, Saturday, April 5, 2025, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Michael Wacha throws during the first inning of a baseball game against the Baltimore Orioles, Saturday, April 5, 2025, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Baltimore Orioles starting pitcher Tomoyuki Sugan throws during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Kansas City Royals, Saturday, April 5, 2025, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Baltimore Orioles' Ramon Urias celebrates in the dugout after scoring on a single by Jackson Holliday during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Kansas City Royals, Saturday, April 5, 2025, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Baltimore Orioles' Jackson Holliday hits a two-run single during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Kansas City Royals, Saturday, April 5, 2025, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — President Donald Trump's nominee to oversee an agency that manages a quarter-billion acres of public land has withdrawn her nomination following revelations that she criticized the Republican president in 2021 for inciting the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

The withdrawal of Kathleen Sgamma to lead the Interior Department's Bureau of Land Management was announced Thursday morning at the start of her confirmation hearing before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

David Bernhardt, who served as interior secretary in Trump’s first term, said on X that Sgamma’s withdrawal was “self-inflicted” and he included a link to a website that posted her 2021 comments. He suggested that people whose views don’t align with Trump’s should not seek political appointments in his administration.

“I am disgusted by the violence witnessed yesterday and President Trump’s role in spreading misinformation that incited it,” Sgamma said in the comments earlier reported by Documented, which describes itself as a watchdog journalism project.

Sgamma confirmed her withdrawal on LinkedIn and said it was an honor to have been nominated.

“I remain committed to President Trump and his unleashing American energy agenda and ensuring multiple-use access for all,” said Sgamma. Since 2006 she's been with the Denver-based Western Energy Alliance, an oil industry trade group, and has been a vocal critic of the energy policies of Democratic administrations.

The longtime oil and gas industry representative appeared well-poised to carry out Trump's plans to roll back restrictions on energy development, including in Western states where the land bureau has vast holdings. The agency also oversees mining, grazing and recreation.

Sgamma's withdrawal underscored the Trump administration's creation of a “loyalty test” to weed out subordinates who are out of step with him, said Aaron Weiss, deputy director of the left-leaning Center for Western Priorities.

“That’s the world we're in — if that’s what happened — where being sane and acknowledging reality with the White House is enough to sink a nomination,” he said.

Trump has been testing how far Republicans are willing to go in supporting his supercharged “Make America Great Again” agenda. Few Republicans have criticized Trump after his sweeping pardons of supporters, including violent rioters, charged in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

Most congressional Republicans have played down the potential negative impact of Trump’s actions, including widespread tariffs on U.S. allies, and have stressed the importance of uniting behind him.

The Bureau of Land Management plays a central role in a long-running debate over the best use of government-owned lands, and its policies have swung sharply as control of the White House has shifted between Republicans and Democrats. Under President Joe Biden, a Democrat, it curbed oil drilling and coal mining on federal lands while expanding renewable power. The agency under Biden also moved to put conservation on more equal footing with oil drilling and other extractive industries in a bid to address climate change.

Trump is reversing the land bureau's course yet again.

On Thursday, officials announced that they will not comprehensively analyze environmental impacts from oil and gas leases on a combined 5,500 square miles (14,100 square kilometers) of bureau land in Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming. The leases were sold to companies between 2015 and 2020 but have been tied up by legal challenges.

Also this week, Trump signed an executive order aimed at boosting coal production. That will end the Biden administration's ban on new federal coal sales on bureau lands in Wyoming and Montana, the nation's largest coal fields.

The land bureau had about 10,000 employees at the start of Trump’s second term, but at least 800 employees have been laid off or resigned amid efforts by the Trump administration to downsize the federal workforce.

It went four years without a confirmed director during Trump's first term. Trump also moved the agency’s headquarters to Colorado before it was returned to Washington, D.C., under Biden.

Sgamma's withdrawal was announced by Senate energy committee Chairman Mike Lee of Utah. The Republican said he would work with the administration to find a new nominee for the bureau.

"Its work directly impacts millions of Americans — especially in the West — and its leadership matters," Lee said.

Utah officials last year launched a legal effort to wrest control of Bureau of Land Management property from the federal government and put it under state control. They were turned down by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Daly reported from Washington, D.C.

FILE - Kathleen Sgamma, President, Western Energy Alliance, speaks during a House Committee on Natural Resources hearing on America's Energy and Mineral potential, Feb. 8, 2023, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib, File)