Two slams in one game? Rutschman, Jackson give O's grand win

BALTIMORE -- How hot is Adley Rutschman at the plate these days? Well, let’s just say that a ball that was firmly in a defender’s glove unexpectedly turned into a grand slam for the Orioles catcher on Thursday.

Rutschman and Jeremiah Jackson each clubbed a grand slam in the O's resounding 10-3 win over the Astros in Game 1 of a doubleheader at Camden Yards. But Rutschman was surprised to see his go over the left-center-field wall -- in fact, he "100 percent" thought it had been robbed by Houston's Brice Matthews.

With one out in the top of the fifth, Rutschman stepped to the plate to face left-hander Steven Okert with the bases loaded. Batting right-handed, the 28-year-old backstop put a good swing on a 2-2 fastball from the southpaw and drove it to deep left-center.

Matthews tracked it well, then made what appeared to be a leaping grab to rob Rutschman. However, Matthews crashed into the wall so hard that the ball fell out of his glove upon impact, dropping into Baltimore’s bullpen.

At first, the baserunners thought it had been caught, as Blaze Alexander and Gunnar Henderson tagged up at third and second, respectively, while Taylor Ward started to retreat to first base. But the relievers in the Orioles’ bullpen quickly jumped up in excitement, flapping their hands in the O’s celebratory bird motion being used this season. Then, the umpires signaled it was, in fact, gone.

"I thought I was getting a run in on a sac fly, if not. So, just trying to have a positive outlook, but worked out good," Rutschman said. "I couldn’t tell if [the relievers] were like, ‘Oh my gosh, he caught it, what a great catch,’ or he didn’t. There was two ways it could have gone."

Rutschman’s third career grand slam -- and his first since hitting two in 2024 -- gave Baltimore a 5-0 lead in support of right-hander Chris Bassitt, who struck out seven over 6 2/3 innings of one-run ball in what was easily the best of his six starts for Baltimore. In the seventh, Jackson's slam off right-hander Jason Alexander pushed the O’s advantage to 10-1.

It was Jackson’s second career grand slam, the first coming in an April 13 win over the D-backs, not long after he hit a foul liner that struck the face of manager Craig Albernaz (who broke his jaw and sustained at least seven fractures in his face).

Albernaz wasn't in the Orioles' dugout for Jackson's first grand slam because he was preparing to take a visit to a local hospital. The skipper was happy to be there this time to watch Jackson, who collected five RBIs to boost his season total to a team-high 24.

"Absolutely, yeah. It was good to see that," a smiling Albernaz said. "I always told him, too, I go, ‘Hey, whenever you need it, you have my left side of my face, too, if you want to get something going.’"

Baltimore had not hit two grand slams in a game since Nolan Reimold and Steve Clevenger each hit one in the eighth inning of a 14-8 win over Kansas City on Sept. 11, 2015, at Camden Yards. Thursday’s twin-bill opener marked the eighth multi-slam game in O’s history (since 1954).

The Orioles were the first MLB team to hit multiple grand slams in a game since the Pirates, who got slams from Bryan Reynolds and Rowdy Tellez in a 14-2 win over the Mets on July 5, 2024. The AL/NL record for grand slams in a game is three -- the Yankees hit a trio of slams in a 22-9 win over the A’s on Aug. 25, 2011 (Robinson Cano, Curtis Granderson and Russell Martin).

After being on the injured list from April 11-21 due to left ankle inflammation, Rutschman has raked since returning to the Orioles’ lineup on April 21 in Kansas City. He has at least one hit in each of his first six games back, four of which have been multi-hit performances. Rutschman is hitting .440 (11-for-25) with four homers and 14 RBIs over that span.

When healthy, Rutschman has been among Baltimore’s top hitters this season, as he’s now hitting .356 with a 1.067 OPS in 16 games.

"Unfortunately, I've seen that on the other side a lot, so I kind of have expectations for Adley. But yeah, he's obviously living up to them," said Bassitt, a 12-year MLB veteran who spent the previous three seasons pitching for the American League East rival Blue Jays. "He's world class when it comes to catching. He's also world class when it comes to hitting. So I'm just happy he’s my teammate, for sure. I've seen it too much on the other side where it's like, ‘Gosh dang.’ But yeah, he's the real deal.”