The Baltimore Orioles hosted the Boston Red Sox in their first home game at Camden Yards in 2025. With the backing of a boisterous crowd, the Orioles bats led them to an 8-5 victory, improving their record to 3-2.
Having finished second in the MLB in home runs in 2024, the Orioles have gotten a reputation as a power-hitting team. That was not the case Monday, as the Orioles did not hit a single home run. This did not stop them from scoring runs, however.
Tyler O’Neill has been allergic to getting out this season, as he posted another perfect outing, going 4/4 at the plate on Monday. He tallied an RBI single in the first and later batted in by Cedric Mullins in the Orioles’ first-inning four-run explosion. O’Neill’s batting average is .571, the second highest average in the league, following Monday’s performance against his former Red Sox.
Cedric Mullins, batting seventh in the batting order, tallied a two-run double and a two-run single, and he was awarded the Orioles’ player of the game. The Baltimore fans love Cedric, showering the captain with cheers during the ceremonial player introductions.
Jackson Holliday seems to have found his footing in the new season following a shaky 2024 campaign. Holliday added two singles, with an RBI single in the eighth inning. This improves his batting average to .316 on the season and an optimistic outlook for the highly touted prospect.
The Orioles also got two hits from Ryan Mountcastle and Ramón Urías and one hit each from Jordan Westburg, Adley Rutschman, and Heston Kjerstad to bring the total to 15.
Baltimore struggled with attendance through the rebuilding years in the late 2010s into the early 2020s. The 2024 campaign saw the best home attendance numbers at Camden Yards for the Orioles since 2015, with an average attendance of 28,162. As new ownership took over mid-season last year and the Orioles rebuild has produced several stars, fans are more excited than ever to watch their hometown team. 45,002 fans were at Oriole Park at Camden Yards for the Monday home opener to show support. Every hit, strikeout, and exciting play was met with loud cheers from the fans. Expect Camden Yards to be packed with Orioles’ orange for the duration of the 2025 campaign.
The Orioles’ star closer missed the 2024 campaign after an UCL injury in late 2023. He came in to close the game in a low-pressure situation as the Orioles were up 8-3. He gave up two free passes and let up two RBI singles in a performance that fans are not used to seeing out of the all-star. This is all a part of the buildup process to return Bautista to his pre-Tommy John form. This is nonetheless a disappointing outing.
Baltimore’s pitching outside of Bautista was largely solid. Starter Cade Povich allowed three runs and tallied eight strikeouts through four and one-third innings. Matt Bowman came in to replace the starter, and he allowed one hit and no runs in his two innings.
Middle relief was perfect with Seranthony Dominguez, Keegin Akin, and Yennier Cano not allowing a baserunner through their three collective innings of work.
Seeing the Orioles doing it through clutch-hitting rather than solo home runs is nice. The team tends to struggle in clutch opportunities, but that was not the case in Monday’s game, with the team batting 6-15 with runners in scoring position. Seeing the Orioles fans attend the home opening day was also lovely.
As an usher at the ballpark, I can confidently say that it is more fun with a sold-out crowd. Here’s hoping attendance stays high throughout the Orioles’ 2025 campaign.
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