BALTIMORE -- Orioles players haven¡¯t been hiding from the facts over the first three weeks of the 2025 campaign. Sure, it¡¯s early and they don¡¯t need to worry about the team¡¯s record in mid-April. But at the same time, they know a season can quickly spiral out of control if too many losses start to pile up.
¡°Been kind of not playing our best,¡± shortstop Gunnar Henderson said of Baltimore¡¯s slow start.
Because the O¡¯s didn¡¯t open the year as well as they expected to, Thursday night¡¯s finale vs. the Guardians at Camden Yards felt like a big game -- as much as one can this time of year. The Orioles entered the day as one of only four MLB teams without consecutive victories (along with the Astros, Braves and Rockies), and they were winless through five series.
Both of those early-season storylines have been put to rest.
Baltimore took its first series of the year with a 6-2 victory in the rubber game, earning wins in consecutive games for the first time in 2025. It was the first time the O¡¯s (8-10) went this deep into a season without a winning streak since 1999, when they didn¡¯t notch consecutive victories until their 24th and 25th games.
¡°Huge,¡± said designated hitter Ryan O¡¯Hearn, who slugged a go-ahead three-run homer in the third. ¡°We look at this thing in chunks, in series. That¡¯s kind of how it goes. First series win is a big deal, and I think we¡¯re going to build off that.
¡°Today was a big day.¡±
It¡¯s been challenging for the Orioles to build momentum thus far. It hasn¡¯t helped having nine players on the injured list and what feels like continuous bad news on that front, the latest being right-hander Grayson Rodriguez¡¯s setback in his recovery from elbow inflammation (shoulder soreness that necessitated an MRI on Thursday).
The only player to be reinstated from the IL by Baltimore this year is Henderson, who missed the first seven games with a right intercostal strain. The 23-year-old has been working to find his swing after hitting .138 with .339 OPS over his first seven games back.
Manager Brandon Hyde moved red-hot Cedric Mullins into the leadoff spot, bumping Henderson down to No. 2, a place he hadn¡¯t hit in since Sept. 14, 2023. Immediately, the change paid off, as Henderson slugged his first home run of the season in the first inning for a quick 1-0 lead.
¡°I want to slow the game down for Gunn a little bit. I just think, talking with him, let him watch an at-bat,¡± Hyde said. ¡°He's a little bit rushed right now, you can tell he's in a little bit of a hurry."
Henderson was calm and collected as he swatted a 2-0 fastball from right-hander Tanner Bibee the opposite way over the left-center-field wall, benefiting from this year¡¯s change in dimensions at Camden Yards.
¡°It¡¯s a lot nicer being able to look at that wall compared to the other wall. The ball that I hit out probably would¡¯ve two-hopped the old wall,¡± said Henderson, who is 7-for-17 (.412) over his past four games. ¡°Just didn¡¯t have to rush in, was able to take a breath and kind of feel comfortable in the box.¡±
O¡¯Hearn and Heston Kjerstad (a two-run home run in the sixth) also went deep for the O¡¯s, who hit all three of their long balls off Bibee (six runs allowed in 5 2/3 innings).
Meanwhile, Orioles right-hander Tomoyuki Sugano turned in the best performance of his four-start MLB career. The 35-year-old from Japan tossed seven strong innings, yielding two runs, which came on back-to-back home runs by Daniel Schneemann and Austin Hedges to open the third.
Sugano retired 15 of the final 17 batters he faced while becoming the first Baltimore starter to pitch more than six innings this year. It was a boost for an O¡¯s staff that ranks 29th in MLB in rotation ERA (5.09) and has seven starters on the IL.
Despite his best showing yet, Sugano wasn¡¯t complacent with his performance.
¡°It¡¯s only one game that I¡¯ve been able to pitch like this,¡± Sugano said via interpreter Yuto Sakurai. ¡°So I have to keep accumulating these outings.¡±
The same could be said for the Orioles as a whole. This was their best series of the season, and they¡¯re starting to look like the postseason contender most expect them to be.
But they need to keep building momentum by carrying their positive play into this weekend¡¯s three-game home set vs. the Reds.
¡°When you play well, the vibe gets fun,¡± O¡¯Hearn said. ¡°Guys are showing up every day thinking we¡¯re going to win tonight and not thinking, ¡®Oh gosh, I hope we don¡¯t lose.¡¯ Those are two very different demeanors.
¡°Obviously, the team is talented. We¡¯ve got a lot of good players. Once you get guys to kind of believe in how good we can be, and then the results come after that, it¡¯s fun. And this was a good series.¡±