Orioles start fast vs. Early en route to 4-2 victory against Red Sox

Gabrielle Starr, Boston Herald on Jun 2, 2026

Published in Baseball

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BOSTON — The Boston Red Sox and Baltimore Orioles were both heavily linked to free-agent slugger Pete Alonso in the early weeks of the 2025-26 offseason, before Baltimore landed him during December’s MLB Winter Meetings.

The absence of Alonso (or any true power bat) hasn’t been the full story of Boston’s miserable 25-34 start to the season, nor is his presence in Baltimore the full story of their slightly-better 29-32 beginnings. But it was the story of Tuesday night’s series opener at Fenway Park, wherein Alonso’s bat was the difference-maker in a 4- 2 Red Sox loss.

Connelly Early slogged his way through 5 1/3 innings in his team-leading 12th start of the season. The rookie left-hander allowed four earned runs on six hits, including two home runs, walked one and struck out six.

Early threw 96 pitches (64 for strikes), including 49 pitches over the first two frames. Coby Mayo quickly erased the 1-0 lead the Red Sox took on Jarren Duran’s leadoff triple and Wilyer Abreu’s RBI sacrifice fly, with a high fly that was changed from a double to a Green Monster homer in the top of the second.

Alonso blasted the game away with a go-ahead two-run homer in the third. The new Orioles first baseman’s 12th round-tripper of the year soared 400-feet deep to the Monster seats at 110.8 mph.

Opponents are hitting Early harder of late. He allowed no home runs in his first eight career starts, including Game 3 of the wild-card series last fall, but has now allowed 11 homers in his last nine starts.

Early has been significantly better on the road than at home this year, too, a problem that plagues the team as a whole. He owns a 2.67 ERA over six road starts (33 2/3 innings); Tuesday marked his sixth home game of the year, and it pushed his Fenway ERA to 3.85 (32 2/3 innings). The Red Sox are 16-14 on the road, but 9-20 at Fenway, by far the worst home record in Major League Baseball.

Too often this season, a big hit with runners in scoring position has eluded the Red Sox.

But it was a dearth of baserunners Tuesday night, as the home team only tallied five hits, two walks, and struck out nine times. The Red Sox were 0 for 3 with runners in scoring position and left four men on base.

Baltimore starter Shane Baz mowed down the Boston bats for seven innings. The ex-Tampa Bay Rays right-hander yielded only two earned runs on four hits, walked two and struck out six, on 94 pitches (64 for strikes).

Baz retired 12 of 13 batters after Duran’s leadoff triple, the exception being Willson Contreras’ two-out walk in the bottom of the first.

Catcher Mickey Gasper was the first Boston bat to break through, leading off the fifth with a single and scoring Boston’s second run via sac fly, this time courtesy of shortstop Marcelo Mayer.

But Baz worked around third baseman Caleb Durbin’s wall-ball double to avoid further damage in the fifth. He likewise skirted Ceddanne Rafaela’s leadoff single in the sixth, and erased Gasper’s seventh-inning leadoff walk with an Isiah Kiner-Falefa double play.

Righty reliever Greg Weissert didn’t have to worry about inherited baserunners when he took over for Early, and therefore pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings.

Rookie lefty Tyler Samaniego walked the tightrope in a chaotic top of the eighth. Gunnar Henderson grounded out to first base, but he appeared to get his foot on the bag before Samaniego. The Orioles challenged, but the call on the field was upheld.

Adley Rutschman followed with a walk. Alonso singled to join the O’s catcher on the bases, but he was out advancing to second when Samuel Basallo’s subsequent ground-ball single collided with his foot for the unassisted tag. Samaniego ended the inning one pitch later by getting Mayo to pop out to Contreras.

Samaniego worked around Leody Taveras’ one-out single in a calmer top of the ninth. He, Weissert and Early held the Orioles scoreless for the final six innings.

Contreras struck out to lead off the bottom of the ninth twice. After his successful ABS challenged turned Rico Garcia’s third pitch from strike three to ball one, Contreras swung and missed at No. 4.

Garcia got Masataka Yoshida swinging and Gasper flew out to complete the home team’s 20th loss at Fenway.