TORONTO -- A team can¡¯t start a season much better than that.
The Orioles¡¯ bats opened the 2025 campaign in impressive fashion on Thursday, cruising to a 12-2 victory over the Blue Jays at Rogers Centre. The outburst featured 14 hits -- six of which were home runs -- as all nine starters in the lineup reached base at least once.
Oh, and this wasn¡¯t even the offense at full strength. Gunnar Henderson, the two-time defending Most Valuable Oriole winner, was placed on the injured list earlier in the day due to the mild right intercostal strain that will cause the 23-year-old star shortstop to miss at least the first six games of the season.
¡°I was just thinking during the game,¡± fill-in shortstop Jackson Holliday said, ¡°I¡¯m like, ¡®Man, we don¡¯t even have Gunnar yet. This is pretty sweet.¡¯¡±
Here are seven noteworthy stats from Opening Day that the O¡¯s would also think are ¡°pretty sweet.¡±
1. The six home runs were an Orioles Opening Day record
Baltimore¡¯s offensive attack was powered by Adley Rutschman and Cedric Mullins, who hit two home runs apiece. Tyler O¡¯Neill and Jordan Westburg also went deep.
The O¡¯s had never hit more than four homers in an Opening Day game, something they did in both 1982 and 2006.
¡°Honestly, I thought we had a great day as a team,¡± Rutschman said. ¡°Opening Day is always an interesting one, lot of nerves flying around. But I felt like our guys did a great job of coming out ready to go, and to put up a 12-spot, that always gives us a little bit of comfort.¡±
2. The six Opening Day home runs are also tied for second most in AL/NL history since 1901
Only one team during that span has hit more homers in an Opening Day game -- the 2019 Dodgers, who began their season with eight. The 2018 White Sox and 1988 Mets also each hit six on Opening Day.
¡°It was special,¡± O¡¯Neill said. ¡°It was really cool to see all the guys show up today.¡±
3. O¡¯Neill extended his AL/NL record streak of consecutive Opening Days with a homer to six
Speaking of O¡¯Neill, the 29-year-old outfielder did what he seems to do every year by homering on Opening Day. No other player has had an opener homer streak longer than four.
¡°That¡¯s mind-boggling,¡± manager Brandon Hyde said.
4. Mullins and Rutschman became the third and fourth Orioles players to hit two home runs on Opening Day
Entering Thursday, only two players in Baltimore history (since 1954) had slugged a pair of homers in an opener -- Hall of Famer Brooks Robinson (¡®73) and Sam Horn (¡®90).
That total has since doubled. Rutschman belted a solo homer in the first and a two-run home run in the eighth, while Mullins hit a leadoff homer in the fourth and a three-run blast in the seventh.
¡°We have the potential to do a lot of good things out there,¡± Mullins said. ¡°Saw a lot of really good at-bats, guys grinding through at-bats and getting good results from it.¡±
5. Rutschman improved to 10-for-14 (.714) with three home runs in three career MLB Opening Days
Nobody on the Orioles¡¯ roster has had better one-game starts in recent seasons than the two-time All-Star catcher, who kept it going with a 3-for-5 performance this year.
Rutschman also went 2-for-3 against Blue Jays starter Jos¨¦ Berr¨ªos, improving to 15-for-25 (.600) lifetime against the right-hander.
¡°The way he swung the bat in Spring Training, he looked as locked in as I¡¯ve seen him,¡± Hyde said. ¡°He was really excited for this game to start today. He was like a little kid in the clubhouse and during batting practice. I think that he¡¯s playing so motivated right now, and awesome to see him get off to an unbelievable start.¡±
6. Baltimore¡¯s third consecutive Opening Day with 10-plus runs tied an AL/NL record
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, only two previous teams had scored 10 or more runs in three straight season openers -- the 1893-95 Reds and the 1994-96 Brewers.
The Orioles beat the Red Sox 10-9 in Boston in 2023, and they notched an 11-3 home win over the Angels in last year¡¯s opener.
¡°It's a good start,¡± Rutschman said. ¡°Got a lot more games left, and we're just going to try and keep doing the same thing and keep working.¡±
7. The Orioles are 1-0 for the fourth time in five years
As Rutschman alluded to, there are 161 regular-season games to go. But for a team with World Series aspirations, Game 1 was an encouraging start.
¡°I think you have to go back to, it¡¯s one of 162,¡± Hyde said. ¡°But I think that we showed the type of offense that we can be.¡±