Adley Rutschman Homers Twice In Return To Camden Yards, Leads Red Sox Over Orioles

Adley Rutschman basked in a good 45-second salute before his first at bat at Camden Yards, tipping his helmet in acknowledgment in making his return for the first time since being dealt by the Orioles to Boston a month ago.

He soaked it in, looked around, reminiscent of his first at bat in Baltimore in May of 2022; his first MLB game with a packed ballpark there to savor his arrival as a beacon of a hopeful rebuild and a potentially joyful future. None of that came to pass, Rutschman, the former first-overall pick, was a decidedly unproductive player for his final two years as an Oriole, and he came limping into this series beat-up again.

He’d missed three straight games and started just 13 times for Boston with an elbow issue that his manager said will likely dog him all season. So, of course, on a night when O’s starter Brandon Young was damn good, it was Rutschman who did the damage against him. Young hung a curveball right over the plate in the first and Rutschman smashed it to the flag court and he homered again in the sixth, cutting the O’s lead 3-2 and Boston went on to a 6-5 win Thursday night.

The Orioles lost a game they could have won for the third straight day, they continue to offer almost nothing at the plate, and they once again failed to be as good as their starting pitcher was. They scratched out an early run and then Luis Robert Jr., just claimed off waivers from the Mets, conquered the left field wall in his first home game here, and Pete Alonso went opposite field just over the wall, but Red Sox starter Jake Bennett ended up finishing six innings.

Boston tied it in the seventh when manager Craig Albernaz, horribly out of his depth all season, kept Young in the game after a double, and Isiah Kiner-Falefa drove him in with a single.

And in the 8th, with just recalled rookie reliever Luis De Leon in the game, Rutschman, back behind the plate, busted down the line on a possible double-play ball and ended up at second when Blaze Alexander spiked his throw. Albernaz pulled De Leon, a lefty, despite a left coming for Boston, and Yennier Cano, great on the road trip and without a homer allowed in 48 outings, tried to keep the ball low as he prefers but Nick Sogard golfed it over the wall in right center, scoring Rutschman for the third time.

Albernaz really isn't cut out for this. And the fraud GM he works for is still worse.

A bullpen that could really use Tyler Wells right now, has started to crack in September. And rookie Roman Anthony, on a tear for Boston since returning from a long stint on the IL, homered in the 9th for insurance. It turned out to be huge, because Christian Encarnacion-Strand homered off star closer Aroldis Chapman with one out in the ninth, but they fell a run short and lost another close game.

Young Deserved Better

Young, who has never pitched this many innings before and was showing signs of distress lately, dominated everyone in Boston’s lineup except for Rutschman. He struck out seven in 6 2/3 innings, throwing 98 pitches, but just 62 strikes and he did walk two. His splitter was nasty; Young picked up 17 swing-and-miss and Boston swung at 12 splitters and missed 10 of them.

But Rutschman got him on the curve and a two-seam fastball, and it would turn out to be his night. he hadn't hit two homers in a game since April 24 and had a .650 OPS since May 1, but that didn't matter Thursday night. The Orioles dropped to 69-72, and the Blue Jays and Rangers are now right there with them, just behind Cleveland as these decidedly flawed teams determine which of them will sneak into October.

For Elias, it's always about next year anyway, and, hey, Enddy Azocar, one of the prospects he got for his precious first-ever draft pick, was named the South Atlantic League Player Of The Month and Anthony Eyanson was dominant again in a AA start, so there's always that.

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