BOSTON — Coming off an extra-inning loss to Houston, the Orioles arrived at Fenway Park in need of a strong series to keep their postseason dreams alive. One game into the four-game set, they’re off to a good start.
Cedric Mullins wasted no time, sending the second pitch of the game over Baltimore’s bullpen and into the glove of an O’s fan. The outfielder followed up his 16th career leadoff homer with a triple in his next at-bat to get halfway to a cycle by just the third inning.
Following a one-hour-and-forty-minute rain delay, the Orioles picked up right where they left off, with Kyle Stowers driving in two runs with his first career triple to put the O’s up 6-2 in the third. Stowers went 3-for-5 with two RBIs and one run scored.
Anthony Santander hit his 30th and 31st homers with a solo shot in the sixth and a two-run blast in the seventh. Gunnar Henderson followed Santander’s 30th homer with a monster three-run home run into deep center. Henderson’s fourth homer came off his bat at a Statcast-projected 111.1 mph and traveled 428 feet. The 21-year-old second baseman, who entered Monday hitting .138 with one extra-base hit in his last eight games, also recorded his first three-walk game.
Up 13-8 in the eighth inning, Austin Hays tacked on one more insurance run with a homer to left field, his 16th of the season, to cap the scoring on an eventful series opener in Boston.