The moment was served up on a silver platter.
The bases were loaded with one out in the fifth inning for Jackson Holliday in his first game back since being recalled from Triple-A Norfolk. He had twice grounded out earlier in Wednesday’s game against the Toronto Blue Jays and the crowd had shifted to the edge of their seats on a day the Orioles offense had been cruising.
The 2022 No. 1 overall draft pick and the second-highest ranked prospect in baseball sent a third-pitch slider 439 feet for a trio of firsts: his first career home run, grand slam and long ball to Eutaw Street. The 109-mph blast off the bat broke open the game, too, giving Baltimore a comfortable five-run lead in an eventual 10-4 win that clinched a series victory over their American League East division rivals.
HAPPY HOLLIDAYS!!!! pic.twitter.com/P3HBoRWmm0
— Baltimore Orioles (@Orioles) July 31, 2024
After spending the past three months making adjustments in the batter’s box and working through an elbow injury, Holliday was recalled from Norfolk in the aftermath of a busy trade deadline in which Baltimore made seven trades in five days. The Orioles (65-44) cleared a path for him to get everyday at-bats by sending fellow second base prospect Connor Norby to the Miami Marlins in the deal for right-hander Trevor Rogers, and Holliday responded to that opportunity by hitting the baseball harder and farther than he did at any point when he was with the club earlier this season.
“Obviously this is the best league in the world,” Holliday said before the game. “Definitely got shown that. Looking forward to [today] and just getting back out there and playing. I feel like I’m definitely more prepared than I was last time.”
With the blast, Holliday became the youngest player in Orioles history to hit a grand slam and the third Oriole to do so for his first career homer. An announced Camden Yards crowd of 25,528 stood on its feet and roared until the infielder treated the hometown fans to a curtain call from the top step of the first base dugout. He nearly clubbed his second home run his following at-bat as well, hitting a fly ball to deep left field that needed replay review to confirm it was barely outside the left field foul pole but had to settle for a 1-for-5 day at the plate.
The Orioles’ offense was clicking from top to bottom as all nine members of their starting lineup either scored a run or drove one in. Colton Cowser continued his second-half surge out of the leadoff spot with his 16th home run of the year, extending his hitting streak to 13 games as he continues to reinsert himself into the American League Rookie of the Year Award race. Gunnar Henderson and Ryan Mountcastle each recorded triples as well to help Baltimore score double-digit runs for the second time in four games in their series with Toronto.
It was more than enough run support for Grayson Rodriguez, who allowed four runs (three earned) with eight strikeouts over six innings to tie Atlanta Braves left-hander Chris Sale for the MLB lead in wins with 13. Rodriguez was sharp early, recording seven of his first nine outs via strikeout, but did allow Toronto to do some scattered damage against him.
Third baseman Addison Barger took him deep for a solo homer in the third and drove in another run with an automatic double the following inning. After an RBI groundout plated the third Blue Jays run in the fifth, Rodriguez went back out for the sixth looking for his 11th quality start of the season. Despite a fielding error by Henderson that allowed an unearned run to score, Rodriguez retired George Springer on a flyout to get through six.
While the game was well out of hand by that point, the Orioles did suffer a key injury when Jordan Westburg left the game between the fifth and sixth innings. The third baseman was hit in the right hand on a 95 mph pitch by Blue Jays reliever Yerry Rodríguez, and Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said after the game that Westburg’s hand was fractured.
Westburg initially stayed in the game and scored on Holliday’s grand slam but was replaced at third base by Ramón Urías when the Orioles took the field for the top of the sixth.
“It’s a bittersweet attitude right now,” Hyde said after losing Westburg on a day Holliday hit his first career homer.
Following Rodriguez out of the bullpen was left-hander Keegan Akin, who worked around another Henderson error — his seventh in as many games and AL-leading 18th of the season — for a scoreless seventh. Closer Craig Kimbrel continued to get his work in lower-leverage situations while he works his way out of a recent skid and right-hander Burch Smith tossed a clean ninth to lower his ERA with the Orioles to 2.16 in seven games.
The Orioles will hit the road Thursday for another four-game series, this one against the AL Central-leading Cleveland Guardians. Baltimore has yet to announce its starter for the opener but Rogers, who had yet to report to the ballclub Wednesday, is the leading candidate to take the ball for his Orioles debut.
This story will be updated.
