Sugiuchi's troubles came to a head with a loss on June 20 against the Saitama Seibu Lions. In that game, he was hit for six runs on seven hits with four walks and four strikeouts in just three innings. It was his shortest start in the regular season since August 20, 2007. Since then, he has recorded quality starts in each of his past four starts, with two complete games against Nippon Ham (a second complete-game shutout) and Seibu. He also started the second game of the 2010 All-Star Series, following the lead of his teammate, Tsuyoshi Wada, who started Game 1.