BALTIMORE — The consistent fall of rain in Baltimore perhaps offered some cover, but the first pitch of Tuesday night’s Orioles game and six others that followed made it clear: Summer has arrived early at Camden Yards.
After Chicago Cubs leadoff hitter Christopher Morel hammered Kyle Bradish’s first pitch over Oriole Park’s new left field wall to begin the night, the Orioles answered with five home runs of their own to beat Chicago, 9-3, in the first half of a two-game interleague set.
It took two pitches for Baltimore (24-33) to even the score with Cedric Mullins going deep, marking the first time an Orioles game featured both teams hitting leadoff home runs since Houston’s George Springer paired with Adam Jones in 2016. Trey Mancini sent Cubs starter Keegan Thompson’s next pitch into the bullpen in left-center, marking the first time the Orioles’ first two at-bats resulted in homers since Seth Smith and Manny Machado did it in 2017.
