Jackson Holliday made a big impact Friday in his first home game of the season for the Baltimore Orioles.
Now the team needs an encore performance from the team’s most heralded young player.
“It’s been a little bit of a grind of a year so far, and just to be up here with these guys and contributing to a win, yeah, it’s awesome,” said Holliday, 22.
The Orioles will take on the visiting Detroit Tigers on Saturday afternoon in the middle contest of a three-game series.
Baltimore began its 10-game homestand with Friday night’s 7-4 victory over Detroit, with homers from Pete Alonso and Holliday accounting for five runs.
Holliday had two of the Orioles’ 14 hits. He had been hitless in his first two games since returning to the big leagues following an injury rehabilitation assignment (broken bone in his hand) to begin the season.
“That’s what Jackson can do,” Baltimore manager Craig Albernaz said. “That home run was impressive in a lot of different ways, how it went underneath the foul pole, but also from our vantage point in the dugout, that ball could have hooked foul. But his swing path is so clean where the ball flight just stayed true. He had great at-bats all night.”
Orioles pitcher Chris Bassitt said Alonso or Gunnar Henderson could spark the team’s offense.
“When Pete and Gunnar are just who they are, they have the ability to carry an entire offense,” Bassitt said. “It’s great when they’re both on, but even just one of them can do that.”
The Tigers, meanwhile, have lost seven straight games and 10 of their last 11. Roster adjustments could be forthcoming if there aren’t more signs of a turnaround.
“The goal is keeping these guys focused here on that not being an option,” manager A.J. Hinch said of potential player moves. “But we’ll have to consider everything as we continue to get into this.”
Detroit is sticking with lineup combinations that have yet to produce desired results.
“We’re playing pretty much the same nine or 10 guys with a couple of bench players,” Hinch said, noting how that’s a deviation from recent seasons. “It’s no secret that we are not in a great place on multiple fronts and we’re trying to work through it.”
On Friday, the Orioles used six pitchers and the Tigers five.
Right-hander Brandon Young (3-1, 4.25 ERA) will take another turn as Baltimore’s starting pitcher on Saturday. He has allowed two runs in each of his last two outings, but those covered only a total of nine innings.
Young has faced Detroit only once, picking up his first big-league decision with a loss on April 26, 2025. He worked 4 2/3 innings and gave up three runs on four hits with five walks in a road assignment.
The Tigers are slated to send out left-hander Framber Valdez (2-3, 4.58 ERA), who’s 0-2 across his last five outings. Detroit is 0-3 in his three starts this month.
Valdez has faced the Orioles seven times, all while with the Houston Astros. He holds a 1-2 mark with a 4.17 ERA across 41 innings.
–Field Level Media
