On America's 250th birthday, the Orioles celebrated in style.
The Birds' bats dazzled with some early fireworks, roughing up Reds fireballer Hunter Greene for eight runs in the first four innings, and the O's held the line from there for an 8-5 victory in Cincinnati. Brandon Young struggled early but hung in to earn his seventh win, freshly minted All-Star Adley Rutschman had a pair of doubles, and new closer Tyler Wells notched his second save in as many nights.
One might have thought the Orioles were unlucky to be the first team this season to face All-Star flamethrower Hunter Greene, who was making his season debut for the Reds after undergoing surgery in March to remove bone chips from his elbow. Greene was the hardest-throwing starting pitcher in baseball in 2025, and if you thought he might need some time to ramp up to full velocity, uh, think again. In the first inning alone, Greene fired 11 pitches clocked at over 100 mph.
But that doesn't mean the Orioles were intimidated. Gunnar Henderson lined Greene's first pitch of the year, a 100.3-mph four-seamer, straight up the middle for a single. With two outs, Pete Alonso worked a walk after a fantastic, nine-pitch at-bat, five of which were triple digit heaters. That brought up Samuel Basallo, who similarly worked the count full.
On 3-2, Greene tried to pump another fastball past Basallo. Mistake. Samuel was more than ready for it, connecting right on the barrel and smashing it deep into the right-center field seats. That, my friends, is an Earl Weaver Special. What a blast from the rookie on 100-mph heat against a tough pitcher. I like Samuel Basallo.
The Birds' bats dazzled with some early fireworks, roughing up Reds fireballer Hunter Greene for eight runs in the first four innings, and the O's held the line from there for an 8-5 victory in Cincinnati. Brandon Young struggled early but hung in to earn his seventh win, freshly minted All-Star Adley Rutschman had a pair of doubles, and new closer Tyler Wells notched his second save in as many nights.
One might have thought the Orioles were unlucky to be the first team this season to face All-Star flamethrower Hunter Greene, who was making his season debut for the Reds after undergoing surgery in March to remove bone chips from his elbow. Greene was the hardest-throwing starting pitcher in baseball in 2025, and if you thought he might need some time to ramp up to full velocity, uh, think again. In the first inning alone, Greene fired 11 pitches clocked at over 100 mph.
But that doesn't mean the Orioles were intimidated. Gunnar Henderson lined Greene's first pitch of the year, a 100.3-mph four-seamer, straight up the middle for a single. With two outs, Pete Alonso worked a walk after a fantastic, nine-pitch at-bat, five of which were triple digit heaters. That brought up Samuel Basallo, who similarly worked the count full.
On 3-2, Greene tried to pump another fastball past Basallo. Mistake. Samuel was more than ready for it, connecting right on the barrel and smashing it deep into the right-center field seats. That, my friends, is an Earl Weaver Special. What a blast from the rookie on 100-mph heat against a tough pitcher. I like Samuel Basallo.
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