BALTIMORE—The applause for Adley Rutschman began as he walked to the plate in the first inning. He doffed his batting helmet and waved, shook hands with Orioles catcher Carlos Narváez, who was one of five players received in exchange for him, and finally got ready to hit.
Rutschman swung hard at Brandon Young’s curveball and the ball flew out to right-center field for a home run. As he crossed the plate, he and on-deck hitter Wilyer Abreu clicked heels to celebrate Rutschman’s 10th home run, and second with Boston since the August 3rd trade.
After the Orioles tied it, 1-1, in the bottom of the first, a video tribute aired and Rutschman stood in the Boston dugout and saluted the crowd.
“It was special to feel that kind love, it’s really cool,” Rutschman said. ”Emotional moment and really special. Just a really, really special moment.”
Trailing 3-1 in the sixth, Rutschman hit a fastball from Young, again to right-center, and again for a home run.
“He’s an awesome dude, great hitter, had the best of me,” Young said. “Yeah, it’s interesting. He’s been catching me ever since I’ve been in the big leagues, so, yeah, I mean, it’s a tough situation. But, yeah, he put two good swings on it.”
The Red Sox tied it, 3-3, in the seventh on a two-out double by Eli White and single by Isiah Kiner-Falefa off Young.
In the eighth. Jahmai Jones singled against Luis De Léon (0-2). Rutschman hit into a force play and advanced to second on a throwing error by second baseman Blaze Alexander. After Wilyer Abreu struck out, Nick Sogard hit a two-run home run against Yenner Cano, and the Orioles trailed, 5-3.
Sogard spoke to Rutschman about Cano.
“We were just talking over gameplan,” Rutschman said. “Yenni is a tough AB. There’s no easy, ‘Hey, I got this advice for you and it’s going to make it really easy to hit now.’ It’s a tough at-bat, especially as a righty. Just trying to give them the best chance for success.”
Cano hadn’t allowed a home run in 48 straight appearances, since April 24th.
“He fell behind Sogard and, yeah, a sinker that just didn’t get down to the right spot,” manager Craig Albernaz said. “We love the matchup with Sogard, especially with first base open and then Durbin behind him. It was just a sinker didn’t get where it needed to go and Sogard put a good swing on it.”
The Orioles’ 6-5 loss before 19,720 at Camden Yards on Thursday night was their third straight. Since Cleveland lost to Toronto, the Orioles (69-72) remain 1 ½ games behind the Guardians. The Blue Jays and Rangers, who beat Tampa Bay, are a half-game behind.
Pete Alonso’s sacrifice fly scored Alexander in the first. In the fourth, Luis Robert Jr. and Alonso hit back-to-back home runs against Jake Bennett to give the Orioles a 3-1 lead. It was Robert’s first home run in his second game with the Orioles, and Alonso’s 33rd.
Erik Miller (4-0) pitched a scoreless seventh. Garrett Whitlock pitched a perfect eighth.
Roman Anthony hit his third home run against Albert Suárez in the ninth, which proved to be the margin of victory.
Christian Encarnacion-Strand hit a two-run home run, his eighth, against Aroldis Chapman in the ninth after a single by Gunnar Henderson. Chapman then retired Leody Taveras on a fly to center and struck out Dylan Beavers for his 32nd save.
Young allowed three runs on four hits in 6 2/3 innings, walking two and striking out seven with one hit batsman.
“I mean, left on a sour note,” Young said. “Woke up this morning pretty sick, so if you would have told me I was going to get into the seventh, I’d be really surprised, honestly, for how I was feeling. Yeah, I felt better than I thought, threw better than I thought I was going to.”
How did Rutschman feel going against the Orioles? “I think [I was] just trying to compartmentalize as much as possible,” Rutschman said. “I’m trying to move on, you know, like you’re in a big league baseball game and you’ve got to lock in for your at-bat, so [tried] to move into that mindset as quickly as possible.”
What was it like going against Rutschman? “He knows the pitching staff extremely well,” Albernaz said. “He knows our game-planning and prep side extremely well, and I’d imagine that he was juiced up for today, and rightfully so. The ovation the crowd gave him was awesome, and obviously, it goes without being said, rightfully deserved. I just wish two of those balls got off the wall.”
What does it mean? For a night, talk of the playoffs wasn’t heard. This game was all about Rutschman, who did get a bit emotional.
“They started crawling in a little bit,” he said. “But we had a baseball game to win.”
What’s the stat of the day? 2. Rutschman is one of two players who changed teams and homered twice against his former team in the same season. The other was Willis Otáñez, who homered twice against the Orioles on July 8th, 1999.
What’s the word? “He was a steppingstone for me. Great catcher, called the game. We had conversations about once a week. So I mean, yeah, he was pretty tight. Good clubhouse guy. Yeah, he hit two homers off me, so he’s having a good night.”-Young on Rutschman
What’s going on in the minor leagues? Anthony Eyanson, another player involved in the Rutschman deal, allowed a run on four hits in six innings, striking out eight in Double-A Chesapeake’s 5-4 loss to Portland.
Vance Honeycutt raised his average to .313 with three hits. Griff O’Ferrall also had three hits. Colin Tuft homered.
Yasmil Bucce homered and drove in three runs as High-A Frederick lost to Brooklyn, 12-5.
Single-A Delmarva had just five hits in a 13-0 loss to Kannapolis.
What’s next? Shane Baz (5-14, 4.01) will start against Ranger Suárez (5-4, 3.64) on Friday at 7:05 p.m.
Call for questions: Most weekdays, I’ll be answering at least one Orioles question. Please send yours to: [email protected]