BALTIMORE—After eight losses in their first 13 games, the Orioles got off to a slow start on Saturday. They trailed, 3-0, entering the fifth and didn’t have a hit. A Cedric Mullins walk followed by a two-run home run by Heston Kjerstad brought life to the crowd and the Orioles, who added a three-run sixth on an Adley Rutschman game-tying homer and a two-run double by Mullins, all with two outs.
It set up the Orioles’ first save opportunity of the season.
In the ninth, Félix Bautista walked two, but recorded his first save since August 24th, 2023 to give the Orioles a 5-4 win over the Toronto Blue Jays before 22,130 chilled fans at Camden Yards.
They were treated to a comeback win by the Orioles, who were wearing their all-orange uniforms. The uniforms are scheduled to pop up a handful of times this season, and after Saturday’s win, perhaps they’ll show up more often.
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Oriole starter Tomoyuki Sugano allowed three runs in the first three innings on an RBI double to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the first, a run-scoring single by Bo Bichette in the second and for Oriole Anthony Santander’s first home with Toronto in third.
Bowden Francis (1-2) retired the first 13 Orioles before Mullins walked. Kjerstad hit his first home run with two outs in the fifth.
Rutschman homered with two outs in the sixth. Mullins drove home Ryan O’Hearn and Jordan Westburg for a 5-3 lead. Mullins was credited with a double, and advanced to third on an error by leftfielder Alan Roden.
“I thought we were pretty quiet,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “I think guys were really internal first four innings because everybody was trying to get something going, and we need to get better at that. Those kinds of things kind of happened last year at times, too, where they were almost trying a little bit too hard and their at-bats were getting over a little bit early or they were getting frustrated with hitting a ground ball hard at somebody.
“But I’m really proud of how our guys really kept going, and Kjerstad kind of broke the ice for us and then got some big hits after that.”
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Keegan Akin retired the only batter he faced. Bryan Baker (1-0) allowed a leadoff double to Nathan Lukes in the seventh. He scored when Bichette hit into a double play.
Yennier Cano pitched the seventh and Gregory Soto a spotless eighth before Bautista struck out Bichette on a slider to end the game.
“Love how he kept his composure,” Hyde said. “That was the first time he’s been in that situation, a save situation against a team that’s playing really well. The fan support behind him, I thought was really huge and made some huge pitches on Bichette there.”
How nice was it to get some clutch hitting? The Orioles had only five hits, but there were home runs by Kjerstad and Rutschman and a double by Mullins.
“To get your first home run on the year is always nice to get it under your belt,” Kjerstad said. “But most importantly, I got us on the board there, got us kind of rolling there in the middle of the game. Their starter was throwing really good up to that point, and it was good for me and great for the team.”
Mullins’ two RBIs gives him 16 this season.
“There’s going to be a lot of days where we have to fight and grind for those wins just like today but proved to ourselves that we can do that, which was huge,” Mullins said. “I think it was really good for our ball club to go through a day like today. For us to come from behind, continue to grind at-bats inning after inning. Find ways to get guys on base just to give us the opportunity to take the lead. We did that today, when we come through, I think it was huge.”
Slick fielding: The Orioles turned five double plays, tying the club record. It’s the 12th time they’ve done that, the first since May 4th, 2022.
The most unusual one came in the fifth after Santander flied to right, and Guerrero was ruled out for leaving first base before Tyler O’Neill caught the ball.
Sugano’s day: In his first home start, Sugano allowed three runs on eight hits in 4 2/3 innings, walking two without a strikeout.
“I was very excited to pitch at home,” Sugano said through his translator. “Obviously, it could have been a better outcome, but yeah, overall, I was just very excited going into the game.”
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This was the first time Sugano had seen a comeback win and a save.
“We haven’t been able to win like this, as of late, so hopefully today’s win will be something good for the days moving forward,” he said.
Scoring changes: In last Sunday’s game, the fly ball hit by Bobby Witt Jr. to center has been charged to an error by centerfielder Jorge Mateo instead of a triple. All three runs charged to Cade Povich are now unearned. Ryan Mountcastle’s triple in that game has been changed to an error by rightfielder Hunter Renfroe.
What does it mean? The Orioles needed a close win, and they got it. They need to win multiple games like this to show they can be a contender again.
What’s the word? “Good teams come back and find ways to win games. That’s what we did today. I think we’re creating our own identity in 2025. There’s some remnants from 2023 that are similar — Félix closing the game, big hit from Adley, big hit from Cedric. Today was a good step in the right direction.”-Ryan O’Hearn on the 2025 Orioles
What’s next? Cade Povich (0-1, 3.48) will face José Berríos (1-1, 4.59) on Sunday at 1:35 p.m