It wasn’t the true Opening Day, but it was Opening Day Camden Yards for the Baltimore Orioles. It’s always an electrifying moment when the Birds take the field at home for the first time. And with Dean Kremer on the mound this afternoon against New York, today was no exception. Kremer’s line: 5 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 3 BB, 4 K.
There was a lot of angles on today. First off, the likes of Adley Rutschman and Gunnar Henderson ran down the orange carpet for the first time. Hopefully the first of many times. New Maryland Governor Wes Moore and his kids threw out the first pitch this afternoon. And the hated New York Yankees were in town hoping to spoil the party. Luckily for the home standing Orioles, that’s not exactly the way things went.
Adam Frazier’s RBI-single gave the Orioles a 1-0 lead in the last of the second. Austin Hays would push one across on a Fielder’s Choice, and Ryan Mountcastle would follow suit an inning later with a sac fly-RBI. Also in the third, Gunnar Henderson would smack an RBI-double, and the O’s appeared to be off to the races.
However New York made a game of it. Cordero would smack a three-run homer in the fourth. The killer is that it came with two outs, which is something that’s plagued the O’s for years. Situations with two outs and two strikes have been the ones that have hurt them in games. And we saw it again today.
Cabrera’s two-RBI double in the sixth would put New York in the lead. But today was the Orioles’ day. “Root, root, root for the home team,” right?! And it was Rutschman who got things going again from a scoring standpoint. His RBI-single in the last of the sixth would tie the game back up at five.
Ramon Urias also figured big into things. His RBI-double in the seventh would give the Birds the lead back. Urias would later score, giving the Orioles an insurance run. And it’s a good thing he did, because New York would score once more in the eighth. But the O’s would close things out in the ninth, and went home with a 7-6 win on Opening Day at Camden Yards.
Everyone went home happy. That’s the goal for every home game. But especially the home opener. The crowd was in it from the beginning, and the O’s happily obliged. Whatever happens for the rest of the season remains to be seen. But today was a good day.
The series continues tomorrow at Camden Yards. Cole Irvin gets the start for the O’s, and he’ll be opposed by New York’s Jhony Brito. Game time is set for just after 7 PM.
Birdland Crush 