An ovation, then a home run to right
Baltimore gave Adley Rutschman a standing ovation before his first at-bat on Thursday night. He answered it by driving the ball to right field for a 1-0 Boston lead, and the Camden Yards crowd was left applauding a player who now wears the other uniform.
The three-time All-Star catcher was traded to the Red Sox a month ago after seven seasons as the face of the Orioles’ rebuild. He went deep again in the sixth. Boston won 6-5, and Rutschman had produced two of those runs before the late innings turned the game into something more complicated.
The Orioles were in front for a stretch. Luis Robert Jr. and Pete Alonso hit back-to-back home runs in the fourth for a 3-1 lead, and that was essentially the last thing Baltimore’s offense managed. Two hits followed across the remaining five and a half innings.
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Sogard finds the one pitch Cano rarely misses
With the score level at 3-3 in the eighth, Nick Sogard hit a two-run drive to right-center. It was only his fourth home run of the season, and the number that matters more belongs to the pitcher: it was the second Yennier Cano had allowed in 61 appearances this year.
Roman Anthony added a solo shot with two outs in the ninth. That run looked like padding at the time. It was not. Christian Encarnacion-Strand answered with a two-run homer in the bottom half, and Aroldis Chapman needed the cushion to close out his 31st save in 33 chances.
Boston starter Jake Bennett went six innings and gave up three runs on five hits. Erik Miller took the win to move to 4-0 after a scoreless inning of relief.
What it means for the standings
Boston keeps pace in a crowded American League picture with under four weeks of the regular season left, and the Orioles slip further from relevance in a year that started with far higher expectations in Baltimore.
The teams meet again on Friday in the second game of a four-game set. Rutschman is expected to catch again, which means the Camden Yards crowd will have to decide once more how it feels about him.
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