Cedric Mullins sprinted hard out of the box and turned on the jets just before hitting second base. He dove headfirst into third, letting out a scream before smacking his hands together.
If not for the cheers from Baltimore fans at Camden Yards, it appeared that Mullins expressed the emotion out of frustration. Perhaps he did.
The center fielder has been engrossed in a brutal slump — a .148 batting average in May entering Monday’s Memorial Day matinee against the Boston Red Sox — and he let out his anger with a two-run triple in the fourth inning and his celebration while kneeling on third base.
Mullins’ extra-base hit was one of seven the Orioles smacked en route to an 11-3 rout of the Red Sox for Baltimore’s season-high fifth straight win after sweeping the White Sox in Chicago over the weekend.
“That was one of our more complete offensive games of the year,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “Using the whole field, hitting with runners in scoring position, the way we ran the bases was fantastic, moving ’em over, getting ’em in. It was really good situational baseball. That was really nice to see our offense play a complete game today.”
It was Mullins’ first triple since he hit for the cycle last May. Since his walk-off home run against the Minnesota Twins in mid-April, Mullins hit .152 with an abysmal .392 OPS before his triple Monday. The 29-year-old barreled up the ball in his next two at-bats, and while both unluckily resulted in outs, it’s likely the first time Mullins has recorded three straight quality plate appearances in over a month.
“That was awesome,” Hyde said. “He swung the bat much better today, that was great to see.”
Before Mullins’ triple broke the game open in the Orioles’ five-run fourth, Kyle Stowers hit an opposite-field double to drive home two. It was the first of three hits Stowers would tally to mark the best game of his young career.
Stowers debuted with the Orioles in 2022 and made the club’s opening day roster last year, but he was later sent to the minors and his 2023 campaign was marred by a shoulder injury and a fractured nose from a hit by pitch. The 26-year-old outfielder waited patiently this spring at Triple-A Norfolk and rejoined the Orioles earlier this month.
His three hits Monday tie his career-high set in September 2022 — also versus the Red Sox — while his four RBIs are the most he’s tallied across the first 57 games of his career.
“It was really fun for me to have a big day, really fun for the team to get a win,” Stowers said. “Long road for me to get back here from last year, so just cool to have a big moment today and, most importantly, happy to get the win and keep going.”
Mullins, Stowers and the rest of Baltimore’s bats backed Cole Irvin to earn the left-hander his fifth win of the season, tying him with Grayson Rodriguez for the team lead. Irvin pitched five scoreless innings to prove once again he’s been one of the Orioles’ best starting pitchers this year. It was the southpaw’s first start back in the rotation after he was temporarily sent to the bullpen. He has a 2.84 ERA and has allowed only two runs in his past 31 1/3 innings as a starting pitcher.
“Cole gave us everything he had,” Hyde said.
Jordan Westburg, Adley Rutschman, Jorge Mateo and Ryan Mountcastle also clobbered extra-base hits and drove in runs for the Orioles, who scored one in the second and third before the fourth-inning outburst and four more in the seventh. The 11 runs are tied for the second most Baltimore has scored this season.
The Orioles’ bullpen was sharp behind Irvin except for newcomer Thyago Vieira, who walked three batters and allowed a bases-clearing triple to Romy Gonzalez for Boston’s lone offense of the afternoon. The eight-run victory in the series opener is the largest margin the Orioles have won by since May 5 against the Cincinnati Reds.
Baltimore is 34-18 and 1 1/2 games behind the American League East-leading New York Yankees, who did not play Monday. The Orioles are 4-0 against the Red Sox (27-27) — the first time to begin a season since 1967 — and 8-2 versus AL East foes.
While a high pitch count prevented Irvin from going deeper in the game, he scattered four hits and three walks while striking out six in his first start since May 13. He got into trouble in the fourth as the Red Sox loaded the bases with one out, but he struck out the next two batters to end the threat.
Irvin had early run support after Westburg’s RBI double in the second and Rutschman’s sacrifice fly in the third brought home Mateo after the speedster doubled and advanced to third on a groundout. After Irvin escaped his jam in the fourth, his offense rewarded him by putting a quarter in the merry-go-round.
Mountcastle doubled to lead off the inning, Cowser reached on an error and Westburg walked to load the bases. Stowers got behind 0-2 but battled and hit a fly ball to the warning track in left field for his biggest hit as an Oriole since 2022.
The double marked the first time Stowers hit the sprinkler (Baltimore’s signature doubles celebration that was introduced last year). He doubled again in his next at-bat for another splash and drove in two more runs with a single in the seventh. The outfielder said he’s “a lot more comfortable” now than in previous big-league stints, hoping that will keep him in the show instead of on the shuttle between Norfolk and Baltimore.
“When I first got here, I knew what to expect coming into things now,” Stowers said. “I’m playing with a lot of confidence, a lot of gratitude and honestly just playing. I’m just playing the game.”
Mullins’ triple and Mateo’s sacrifice fly capped off the rally in the fourth off Red Sox starter Cooper Criswell. Baltimore pounced on reliever Brad Keller in the seventh when Rutschman roped an RBI double and Mountcastle recorded his third hit with an RBI single before Stowers’ two-run knock. The Red Sox entered with the second-best ERA in the majors at 3.09, but that fell to 3.22 after they allowed a season-high 11 runs.
If the Orioles win Tuesday or Wednesday, it will extend their franchise-record streak without losing a divisional series to 18 — a stretch that dates to April 2023. Just a few years ago, Boston fans would’ve been a noticeable presence at Camden Yards when playing the then-lowly Orioles. Now, with the Red Sox a middling team and the Orioles one of MLB’s best, the majority of red in the stands were on the backs of Baltimore fans donning Ketchup T-shirts as part of the hot dog race-themed giveaway.
Monday’s announced attendance of 40,951 was the largest for a non-opening day game at Oriole Park this season. Through 28 home games, the average attendance at Camden Yards is 25,971 — up from 20,453 (or 26.9%) from the same point last year. The Orioles are on pace to eclipse 2 million in attendance for the first time since 2017.
“I think really the second half of last year we saw that big-time switch,” Hyde said of the fan atmosphere. “When we play, especially some of the AL East teams, how much more Orioles fans are in the seats, and you can hear them and they were loud today. They enjoyed the condiment race and the giveaway. There was a lot of energy in the ballpark today. It was great.”
Red Sox at Orioles
Tuesday, 6:35 p.m.
TV: MASN
Radio: 97.9 FM, 101.5 FM, 1090 AM
