Orioles bombard Red Sox with 6 homers in blowout win — and run out of celebratory fireworks

Just wait until it all clicks, they’ve said. It’s only a matter of time, they’ve insisted. When it all comes together, watch out, they’ve declared.

Watch out, indeed.

The bedlam at Camden Yards on Friday night began with Gunnar Henderson, the Orioles’ first batter, and he was a fitting character to do it. This week, when discussing Baltimore’s relatively slow start to the season, Henderson was adamant that these early days aren’t a reflection of what this lineup can produce.

And then he clubbed a home run against Boston Red Sox right-hander Brayan Bello, beginning a theme the Orioles carried through the rest of their series-opening 10-3 victory to return to .500 (13-13).

“We have the team to do that,” Henderson said. “You can see what our offense can do.”

After Coby Mayo crushed the sixth Orioles homer, the Camden Yards video board apologized. The stadium had run out of home run pyrotechnics, the message read, because there were too many home runs.

Nay. There will never be too many home runs. Run out of fireworks every night, why don’t you? The Orioles fans will not mind if the flying balls are the only projectiles shot into the night.

In feet, the Orioles’ home run balls must’ve covered the distance from here to the National Aquarium. They came in quick succession, with Henderson and Adley Rutschman and Dylan Beavers all belting long balls in the first inning off Bello. After the third, Mid-Atlantic Sports Network play-by-play announcer Kevin Brown uttered an apt description of the scene playing out on the field: “It’s a Boston tee-off party.”

The Orioles teed off Bello, for sure, and in doing so they showed exactly what this offense can achieve. This is, of course, on the extreme end. Baltimore won’t club six homers every night, for which owner David Rubenstein’s fireworks budgeting will be grateful.

This became the first game in Orioles history they managed all three of these things: 10 or more runs, six or more home runs, 20 or more hits.

“It’s the best. Guys are just cheering in the dugout, getting excited for each other,” Rutschman said. “I think everyone in this clubhouse knows how talented this group of hitters and pitchers are. To be able to have a game like this where guys are barreling balls, just cheering for each other, I think is pretty cool for everyone to experience and just get excited for.”

When everything clicks — a strong start from right-hander Brandon Young, good defense behind him and enough run support to make it comfortable early — the Orioles look like a team capable of competing with the best.

The first inning, in a vacuum, was one of the more impressive sights in recent years. It didn’t end there.

Samuel Basallo got in on the fun with a solo shot in the third as part of his first-career four-hit game. That missile left his bat at 111 mph on a line and just kept carrying over the fence.

“Whenever I see guys do stuff like that, it’s unbelievable and I wish I could do it,” said Taylor Ward, who finished with four hits of his own. “But it’s good to see him swinging it well and that was a beautiful swing he took, and hopefully he keeps that rolling too.”

And Rutschman added his second round-tripper in the fourth. He grounded in a run in the third and produced an RBI single in the seventh, too, to bring his RBI tally to six.

It was the first time Rutschman recorded six RBIs in a game since June 9, 2024, and this was his first multihomer games since March 27, 2025. Between then and now, Rutschman has battled injuries. He was on the injured list twice last year for oblique strains, and he spent 10 days this year on the shelf because of left ankle inflammation. He returned this week, though, and hasn’t missed a step. In 12 games, Rutschman’s OPS is 1.115.

“To me,” manager Craig Albernaz said, “that’s vintage Adley.”

Mayo has been on as much of a hot streak as Rutschman, with three homers in his last three games. Ward thwacked his way to his third career four-hit game — all of which have come this season — and the only members of the starting lineup held hitless were, ironically, the two who have carried much of the load during slumps this season: Leody Taveras and Jeremiah Jackson.

They can afford a night off, given the way the rest of the lineup hummed.

Will the Orioles do this every night? No. That is an impossible level of production to bring on a regular basis. But if this is closer to the norm — if this unlocks a consistency that has been difficult to find — all the positive sentiments uttered by this team will ring true.

Just wait until it all clicks, they’ve said.

It looked as though it all clicked Friday night.

“All these guys have that capability in them,” Albernaz said. “It was good to see kind of everything come together.”

This article has been updated.