Orioles blast 2 grand slams in 10-3 win over Astros to open doubleheader

Jacob Calvin Meyer, Baltimore Sun on Apr 30, 2026

Published in Baseball

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BALTIMORE — Baltimore fans at Camden Yards held their collective breath on Thursday after Adley Rutschman’s high fly ball.

Taylor Ward, the runner on first base, didn’t know whether the ball was caught. Pete Alonso, the hitter in the on-deck circle, stood still with his arm in the air. The players in the Orioles’ dugout did the same.

It wasn’t until the relievers in Baltimore’s bullpen saw it — the ball falling out of the center fielder’s glove over the fence — and reacted accordingly that everyone else in the ballpark did the same.

Rutschman had hit a grand slam in the fifth inning, helping lead the Orioles to a 10-3 win over the Astros. His trot around the bases was the exclamation mark on what’s been a resplendent opening month to the season — a relief for a franchise cornerstone that spent the previous year and a half not playing like himself. He has been perhaps the Orioles’ best player this season and one of the top catchers in Major League Baseball.

If it had just been Rutschman’s slam, the win in Game 1 of the Orioles’ doubleheader would have been one of their best of the season. But Jeremiah Jackson wanted to get in on the grand slam party, too, and make the triumph even that much sweeter.

In the seventh inning, Jackson launched a long ball to left field — his second grand slam of the season — to drive in four runs and put Baltimore’s tally at 10. Jackson has earned an everyday role at second base to begin the season as one of the Orioles’ best pure hitters. His 24 RBIs lead the team and rank third among all players in the American League — even ahead of the Yankees’ Aaron Judge.

Rutschman’s slam was the third of his career and first since June 9, 2024, against the Rays. It was Baltimore’s third grand slam this season, with Jackson owning the other two. The second baseman’s first slam came April 13 against the Diamondbacks, about 30 minutes after his foul line drive struck manager Craig Albernaz in the face.

Albernaz is surely happy that he doesn’t need to take a liner to the face in order to get Jackson to hit a grand slam.

It marked the eighth time in franchise history (since 1954) that the Orioles have hit two grand slams in the same game. The most recent instance was Sept. 11, 2015, against the Royals when Nolan Reimold and Steve Clevenger both hit slams in a 10-run eighth inning.

The extra offense wasn’t needed by a pitching staff that held down an Astros offense that entered the series as the AL’s best. Veteran starter Chris Bassitt delivered his best start as an Oriole, pitching 6 2/3 innings of one-run ball with seven strikeouts.

Baltimore is 15-15 and could end April above .500 with a win in Game 2 on Thursday evening.