With the Orioles opening the 2026 season with a 2-1 victory over Minnesota on Thursday, I’ve offered a dozen thoughts, each in 50 words or less:
1. Craig Albernaz began his first Opening Day as manager throwing batting practice and concluded it receiving a celebratory beer shower from players for his first victory. Tyler Wells checked to make sure such shenanigans would be OK with Albernaz, who replied, “I’m always down for the boys.”
2. Trevor Rogers made that possible with seven shutout innings to pick up right where he left off in 2025. The lefty didn’t have his best command and issued four walks, but getting so deep into the game on only 88 pitches certainly eased bullpen concerns for one day.
3. Rogers didn’t get much swing and miss with his changeup, but that pitch induced three double plays, which allowed him to escape no shortage of traffic on the bases. That’s how you get through seven frames despite recording only two 1-2-3 innings.
4. Coby Mayo passed the season-opening test at third base by starting two double plays, one of them an impressive stab of a 107.0 mph grounder off the bat of Twins cleanup hitter Ryan Jeffers. No one works harder on his defense than Mayo, so that was encouraging to see.
What a play by Orioles third baseman Coby Mayo to turn an inning-ending 5-4-3 double play in the top of the 3rd.
The 24-year-old put in a lot of work this spring to get reacclimated to the hot corner. pic.twitter.com/wu4fgppAy6
8
5. Pete Alonso didn’t provide a Opening Day moment at the plate, but you could tell he was genuinely touched by the rousing ovation he received from fans. “It’s a dream come true to have that feeling, and it’s such a blessing. I’m happy we got the win for them today.”
6. Baltimore got only one runner into scoring position against Twins starter Joe Ryan, but the Orioles finally broke through against the Minnesota bullpen in the seventh when Samuel Basallo went first to third on a single and Colton Cowser hit a fly ball to score him. Some refreshing fundamental baseball.
7. Two batters later, Blaze Alexander collected his first hit and RBI as an Oriole. The 26-year-old has a fun energy to him and appears to be fitting in nicely with his new teammates. His versatility gives him a chance to be a valuable part of this club in 2026.
8. It’s safe to say Ryan Helsley was feeling the adrenaline in his first save opportunity. He gave up a hit and struck out three while hitting 100 mph on five of his 19 pitches. Helsley topped out at 101.9 mph and recorded the final strikeout with a nasty slider.
9. Though a monster two-homer performance in Toronto last year wasn’t a harbinger of things to come for Adley Rutschman, he continued his success on Opening Day with two more hits. The 28-year-old catcher is now 12-for-18 in four openers with the Orioles.
10. Tyler O’Neill’s streak of homering in a record six consecutive Opening Days came to an end. However, he did go 1-for-2 with a walk to help atone for his error in right field to open the sixth inning.
11. Speaking of outfield defense, Taylor Ward didn’t play the left-field corner very well in what resulted in a Byron Buxton triple in the eighth inning. Buxton has great speed, but you’d like more conviction from your left fielder in that spot when it’s only a two-run game.
12. You never want to make Opening Day a referendum on what kind of season you’re going to have, but the Orioles carried over the improved vibes from spring to move above .500 for the first time since last year’s home opener. This club — and its fans — need a good start.
