BALTIMORE -- Jackson Holliday made some Camden Yards Statcast history in his first home game of the season for the Orioles on Friday night.
In the fourth inning, Holliday hit a go-ahead two-run homer off Detroit starter Jack Flaherty, an opposite-field shot to left field that gave Baltimore a 6-4 lead. But the 93.5 mph fly ball off the bat of the 22-year-old infielder barely cleared the wall -- in fact, it did so by just sneaking in under the foul pole.
Holliday’s Statcast-projected 337-foot home run landed on the concrete slab underneath the yellow pole and sat there until a fan scurried to grab it as a souvenir. However, all home runs count the same, and this one came at a key moment in the game.
It was tied for the third-shortest over-the-fence home run hit at Camden Yards since Statcast tracking began in 2015. The three others were all hit to right field, though, making Holliday’s blast the shortest hit to left field during that span.
Shortest over-the-wall Camden Yards home runs since 2015
1 (tie). 333 feet -- Baltimore’s Tim Beckham on Aug. 3, 2017
1 (tie). 333 feet -- Toronto’s Bo Bichette on Aug. 9, 2022
3 (tie). 337 feet -- Detroit’s Jeimer Candelario on Aug. 10, 2021
3 (tie). 337 feet -- Baltimore’s Jackson Holliday on May 22, 2026
Holliday also singled in the third inning, his first home plate appearance of the season. He came around to score on Pete Alonso’s game-tying three-run homer later in the frame.
After undergoing right hamate surgery on Feb. 12 and beginning the season on the injured list, Holliday was activated on Monday ahead of the O’s three-game set vs. the Rays. He went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts during the series, which Tampa Bay swept.
The Orioles (21-29 entering Friday) are hopeful Holliday’s return will boost their lineup, and he showed in the opener against the Tigers why that could be the case.