Orioles Fall 6-5 to Red Sox as Rutschman’s Camden Yards Return Spoils Baltimore’s Night

The Baltimore Orioles welcomed Adley Rutschman back to Camden Yards on Thursday night. Unfortunately for Baltimore, its former catcher made his return one the Orioles will not soon forget.

Rutschman homered twice against his former team, Nick Sogard delivered the go-ahead two-run home run in the eighth inning and the Boston Red Sox defeated the Orioles, 6-5, in the opener of a four-game series at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

Baltimore dropped its third consecutive game and fell to 69-72 on the season. With the postseason race tightening, the loss left the Orioles 1 1/2 games out of the final American League Wild Card position. Boston improved to 76-65.

Rutschman wastes no time in return

The night began with an emotional welcome for Rutschman, whom Baltimore traded to Boston at the Aug. 3 deadline along with catcher Jake Rogers and cash considerations.

Rutschman received a lengthy standing ovation from the Camden Yards crowd before his first plate appearance. Three pitches later, he reminded Baltimore fans just how dangerous his bat can be.

Rutschman took Brandon Young deep to right field for a solo home run, giving Boston a 1-0 lead in the first inning. Statcast projected the home run at 377 feet.

Baltimore immediately answered.

Pete Alonso drove in a run with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the first to tie the game at one.

Rutschman was not finished. He homered again off Young in the sixth, sending a fastball an estimated 389 feet into the right-center-field seats.

The two home runs were Rutschman’s 10th and 11th of the season and his second and third since joining Boston. He entered the game batting just .170 with a .254 on-base percentage and .245 slugging percentage through his first 15 games with the Red Sox.

Robert and Alonso give Orioles the lead

The Orioles produced their biggest offensive surge in the fourth inning.

Luis Robert Jr., recently claimed off waivers by Baltimore, launched his first home run as an Oriole to put Baltimore ahead, 2-1.

Robert’s blast was followed immediately by Alonso.

Alonso drove a ball toward the right-center-field wall. Boston center fielder Eli White appeared to have enough time to make the play but was unable to bring the ball down, and Alonso had his 33rd home run of the season.

The back-to-back home runs suddenly gave Baltimore a 3-1 advantage and put Camden Yards back into the game.

Alonso finished with two RBIs, pushing his season total to 94 and moving him into a tie for the American League lead entering Friday.

Young gives Baltimore a chance

Outside of Rutschman, Young largely controlled Boston’s lineup for much of the night.

Rutschman accounted for Boston’s first two hits, both home runs, while Young kept the remainder of the Red Sox lineup hitless until the seventh inning.

However, Boston slowly erased Baltimore’s advantage.

Rutschman’s second homer made it 3-2 in the sixth. White then doubled with two outs in the seventh and Isiah Kiner-Falefa followed with an RBI single that tied the game at three.

It was a frustrating ending to an otherwise encouraging start from Young. Two mistakes to Rutschman proved costly, and Boston eventually found enough offense to erase Baltimore’s two-run advantage.

Orioles bullpen cannot hold the tie

The decisive sequence came in the eighth.

Baltimore turned to highly regarded pitching prospect Luis De León in a 3-3 game. Pinch-hitter Jahmai Jones opened the inning with a single.

Rutschman then grounded to third base, but Jones’ aggressive slide into second helped prevent Baltimore from completing a double play. De León struck out Wilyer Abreu before Orioles manager Craig Albernaz turned to Yennier Cano.

That decision did not work.

Sogard drove a pitch from Cano over the right-center-field wall for a two-run home run, putting Boston ahead, 5-3.

It was only Sogard’s fourth home run of the season and only the second homer Cano had surrendered in 61 appearances.

De León was charged with the loss and fell to 0-2. Both of his major-league appearances since his recent promotion have come in late-inning tie games, and both have resulted in losses.

Boston adds a critical insurance run

Roman Anthony made Baltimore’s comeback attempt even more difficult when he homered in the ninth inning to extend Boston’s lead to 6-3.

That insurance run became extremely important.

The Orioles did not go quietly against one of baseball’s most accomplished closers.

Christian Encarnacion-Strand launched a two-run home run off Aroldis Chapman in the bottom of the ninth, suddenly cutting Boston’s advantage to 6-5 and bringing Camden Yards back to life.

Baltimore could not finish the comeback.

Chapman eventually recorded the final out and earned his 31st save in 33 opportunities.

The Orioles finished with only two hits after their back-to-back home runs in the fourth inning, and the lack of sustained offense eventually caught up with them.

Rutschman writes an unusual chapter in Orioles history

It was difficult to imagine a more dramatic return for Rutschman.

The former No. 1 overall pick played a major role in Baltimore’s turnaround, helping the Orioles return to winning baseball in 2022 before reaching the postseason in 2023 and 2024.

Exactly one month after Baltimore traded him within the division, Rutschman returned wearing a Red Sox uniform and immediately produced one of his best games of the season.

According to MLB, Rutschman became only the second player since at least 1900 to change teams during a season and hit multiple home runs in his first game against his former club that same year.

His familiarity with Baltimore also presented another challenge.

Albernaz acknowledged after the game that Rutschman knows Baltimore’s pitching staff, preparation and game-planning tendencies extremely well after spending years inside the organization.

Wild Card race getting dangerous

The calendar has reached September, meaning Baltimore can no longer treat these losses as isolated disappointments.

The Orioles entered September with a realistic opportunity to fight their way into the final Wild Card position. Thursday’s defeat dropped them to 69-72 and extended their losing streak to three games.

Baltimore remained just 1 1/2 games behind Cleveland for the final Wild Card position following the loss, but Toronto and Texas also remained ahead of the Orioles in the crowded race.

That makes every missed opportunity increasingly significant.

Baltimore had a two-run lead Thursday. The Orioles received a competitive start from Young. Robert hit his first Orioles homer. Alonso continued his outstanding power production. Encarnacion-Strand nearly completed a ninth-inning comeback.

They still lost.

Those are the games Baltimore has to begin turning into victories if it wants to play meaningful baseball beyond September.

MSB Take

This one hurts for several reasons.

First, losing another one-run game during a postseason chase is damaging enough. Doing it after holding a 3-1 lead makes it worse.

Then there is the Rutschman factor.

Orioles fans gave Rutschman the reception he deserved. He was an important part of bringing winning baseball back to Camden Yards, and the fans recognized that. Once the game started, however, he became an opponent, and Baltimore simply made too many mistakes against a player who knows this organization extremely well.

The Orioles’ biggest issue right now is not a lack of talent.

Robert provides another legitimate power threat. Alonso continues to produce runs at an elite level. Encarnacion-Strand showed again that Baltimore has enough offense to threaten good teams late. Young provided enough quality innings to put the Orioles in position to win.

The problem is finishing games.

Baltimore has reached the portion of the schedule where moral victories and encouraging individual performances are not enough. The Orioles are chasing several teams for one playoff position, and there are fewer opportunities available every night.

The encouraging part is that they remain close enough to make a run.

But three consecutive losses have taken away much of the margin for error.

Baltimore needs to turn the page quickly because this four-game series against Boston gives the Orioles an opportunity to directly respond against a team they could potentially see in the American League postseason picture.

Up next

The Orioles and Red Sox continue their four-game series Friday night at Camden Yards.

Shane Baz is scheduled to start for Baltimore against Boston right-hander Ranger Suárez.

After dropping the opener and falling three games below .500, Friday becomes another important opportunity for the Orioles to stop their losing streak and remain within striking distance of the final American League Wild Card spot.