The Baltimore Orioles turned on the power for Opening Day, and the host Toronto Blue Jays hope to recover from the shock by Friday night as the teams’ four-game series continues.
The Orioles blasted six home runs, a club record for an Opening Day, and outhit the Blue Jays 14-4 on Thursday afternoon in a 12-2 romp.
In one sense, Toronto is glad Opening Day is over. That is because Baltimore’s Tyler O’Neill extended his own record by hitting a homer — a three-run shot — on his sixth consecutive Opening Day.
“That’s crazy,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. “It’s home and road, Canada and the U.S. You tip your hat, man. He likes Opening Day. I’m glad tomorrow’s not Opening Day.”
O’Neill, a native of Burnaby, British Columbia, acknowledged the streak was on his mind.
“Yeah, it’s there. It’s there for sure,” he said. “I’m just not trying to make too much of it. Just try to go out, have a good first at-bat, see what the game gives me from there. Obviously, I understand what’s going on, but not like I’m trying to go up there and do anything crazy like that.”
It was a rude opening for the Blue Jays fans, who had been encouraged by an 18-10 spring training record. By the eighth inning they were booing and leaving.
They had seen this act before with the lack of offense resembling their struggles of last season. The Blue Jays will look to better support their best hitter, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who was walked twice on Thursday.
Toronto will count on right-hander Kevin Gausman (14-11, 3.83 ERA in 2024) to turn off the Orioles’ power when he starts on Friday night.
Gausman was 1-1 with a 5.02 ERA in two starts against the Orioles last season. He is 2-4 with a 4.75 ERA in seven career starts against his former team.
The Orioles will counter with more craftiness than power with 41-year-old Charlie Morton (8-10, 4.19 ERA in 2024). The right-hander did not face the Blue Jays last season and is 2-2 with a 4.01 ERA in nine career starts against them.
The impressive thing about the Orioles’ outburst is that they were without two of their big home run hitters from last season in Anthony Santander and Gunnar Henderson.
Santander, who hit 44 homers, signed as a free agent with Toronto in the offseason. Santander was 0-for-4 on Thursday.
Henderson (intercostal strain), who had 37 homers and 92 RBIs last season, is expected to return soon.
“I was just thinking during the game, like, man we don’t even have Gunnar yet. This is pretty sweet,” said Jackson Holliday, who started at shortstop.
Also impressive is that the Orioles hit three homers and scored six runs against Toronto starter Jose Berrios, who entered the game with a 10-1 career record and an ERA of 2.95 in 16 starts against them.
There were some bright spots for Toronto. Andres Gimenez, a Gold Glove second baseman acquired in a trade with the Cleveland Guardians, hit a two-run homer.
Right fielder Alan Roden made his major league debut and had a single and a walk.
“I’ve been prepared,” he said. “I’ve been ready to go for this game for a long time. I’ve been excited for the past week, so when (Schneider) told me, it was just an affirmation of what I wanted to do. I was just trying my best out there.”
–Field Level Media
