Adley Rutschman homers twice in Baltimore return as Red Sox hold off Orioles, 6-5

Adley Rutschman couldn’t have scripted his return to Camden Yards much better.

The former Orioles catcher received a standing ovation from the Baltimore crowd Thursday night. Three pitches later, he gave his new team the lead.

Rutschman homered twice against his former club, Nick Sogard delivered a go-ahead two-run homer in the eighth and the Red Sox survived a tense ninth inning to beat the Orioles, 6-5, at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

For a Boston team that arrived in Baltimore having lost six of its previous eight games, and with its pitching staff showing some troubling signs, it was a needed way to begin a four-game series.

Making his first appearance in Baltimore since the Orioles traded him to Boston at the deadline, Rutschman drove the third pitch he saw 377 feet to right field for a solo homer in the first inning.

Baltimore answered before the inning was over, tying the game at 1.

Then came an unusual fourth inning for Jake Bennett.

The rookie left-hander entered Thursday having surrendered only seven home runs over 93 2/3 innings, but Luis Robert Jr. and Pete Alonso opened the fourth with back-to-back solo shots, putting Baltimore ahead, 3-1.

Despite the sudden power surge, Bennett didn’t let the inning unravel.

He completed six innings on just 68 pitches, throwing 76.5% of them for strikes, and kept the Red Sox within striking distance.

The performance continued a solid stretch since Boston gave Bennett eight days of rest following his Aug. 14 start. He has allowed six earned runs over 19 innings since then, good for a 2.84 ERA.

Rutschman began Boston’s comeback in the sixth.

Facing his former team for the third time, he launched another ball to right field, this one traveling 389 feet, to cut Baltimore’s lead to 3-2.

It was Rutschman’s fifth career multi-homer game and easily his biggest offensive performance since joining the Red Sox.

Rutschman entered Thursday batting just .170 (9-for-53) with two extra-base hits since the trade. His overall numbers have been underwhelming this season, but his underlying plate discipline has remained strong, including a 25.6% chase rate, 16.7% whiff rate, 16% strikeout rate and 10.5% walk rate.

The Red Sox finally pulled even in the seventh.

Isiah Kiner-Falefa, activated from the injured list earlier this week, delivered a game-tying RBI single to make it 3-3. His return gives Boston another versatile option for the stretch run after Kiner-Falefa was one of its hottest hitters before getting hurt, batting .385 (15-for-39) with a .980 OPS in May. He has also recorded seven outs above average defensively.

Then Sogard delivered the biggest swing of the night.

Jahmai Jones opened the eighth with a pinch-hit single against left-hander Luis De León and later helped disrupt a potential double play with a hard slide into second. Jones continues to thrive in a specialized role against left-handed pitching, batting .500 (14-for-28) with three homers, four doubles and a triple against southpaws since joining Boston.

Sogard followed by crushing a 395-foot, two-run homer that put the Red Sox ahead, 5-3.

Sogard went the first 322 at-bats of his major league career without a home run. He has now homered four times in his last 15 games.

The opportunity itself came from an unfortunate break. Curtis Mead fractured his wrist in just his second plate appearance after being acquired by Boston, opening the door for Sogard to play virtually every day. Since being recalled from Triple-A Worcester on July 29, Sogard is batting .269 (35-for-130) with a .368 on-base percentage.

Roman Anthony provided what initially appeared to be some breathing room with a solo homer in the ninth, extending Boston’s lead to 6-3.

It turned out the Red Sox needed every bit of it.

Aroldis Chapman surrendered a two-run homer to Christian Encarnacion-Strand in the bottom of the ninth, suddenly trimming Boston’s advantage to a single run.

But Chapman stopped the Orioles there, preserving the 6-5 victory.

Erik Miller also worked a scoreless seventh and has allowed just one earned run over 12 1/3 innings since joining Boston. The left-hander walked two Thursday, however, after issuing only three walks over his first 11 1/3 innings with the Red Sox.

Boston will look to build on the win Friday night, when Ranger Suarez (5-4, 3.64 ERA) starts the second game of the series.

Suarez enters the outing with a 5.01 ERA over seven second-half starts after posting a 3.15 ERA in 17 starts before the All-Star break.