Adley Rutschman didn’t need long to make his presence felt in Baltimore again.
In his first game back at Camden Yards as a visitor on Thursday, the catcher delivered the kind of night that cuts through all the noise around a deadline blockbuster. Rutschman homered twice in his first three at-bats, and both blasts came off Brandon Young. For Boston, he was the whole offense early, supplying the Red Sox’ only two hits when those homers left the yard.
The first one set the tone immediately. Rutschman opened the game with a first-inning home run, giving Boston a 1-0 lead in his first at-bat against the Orioles. Later, in the sixth inning, he went back out and struck again, trimming into a Baltimore lead that had grown to 3-1 by that point.
Both shots landed in nearly the same spot in the right-field seats, right where Rutschman spent plenty of time as an Oriole. He entered the night with 37 home runs at Camden Yards in Baltimore uniform, and he left with two more there as a member of the Red Sox.
The crowd also made sure to greet him properly before the game got rolling. Orioles fans gave Rutschman a strong ovation before his first plate appearance, a warm reception for the player Baltimore drafted first overall in 2019.
Rutschman’s line on the night was simple and loud: 3 at-bats, 2 hits, 2 home runs, 2 RBIs. Both of his drives were solo shots, and both were the first two hits of the game for Boston.
His return came about a month after he was dealt from Baltimore to Boston in a seven-player trade deadline swap that put him at the center of one of the biggest moves of the summer. The Red Sox acquired Rutschman and catcher Jake Rogers, while the Orioles got Anthony Eyanson, Kiyan Witherspoon, Enddy Azocar, Carlos Narvaez and Harold Rivas.
Boston paid a steep price to land the switch-hitting catcher, sending four notable prospects in the deal. Rogers was later designated for assignment a few weeks after the trade, once Rutschman came off the injured list.
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