Orioles Open 2026 Season With 2-1 Win, Rogers Dominates Twins

Trevor Rogers walked off Oriole Park at Camden Yards on Opening Day with seven shutout innings and an Orioles victory in tow. His dominant performance anchored a 2-1 win over the Minnesota Twins and handed first-year manager Craig Albernaz his first career victory in front of a sellout crowd.

Rogers, who went 9-3 with a 1.81 ERA in 2025, carried that form into the new season without hesitation. He limited Minnesota to three hits, induced three double plays, and worked out of trouble repeatedly despite walking four batters across seven scoreless frames. Twins starter Joe Ryan matched him for most of the afternoon, and the two clubs played through a scoreless tie deep into the game.

The deadlock broke in the seventh. Colton Cowser drove in the first run with a sacrifice fly, and Blaze Alexander followed with a two-out RBI single to push the lead to 2-0. It was exactly the kind of situational hitting that had been largely absent during Baltimore's 75-87 finish the previous year.

Ryan Helsley took the ninth and struck out the side, sending a full Camden Yards home with its first win of the season.

Pete Alonso, the offseason addition expected to anchor the Orioles' lineup, made his Baltimore debut but went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts and a walk against Minnesota's pitching. There will be more opportunities for Alonso to find his footing; what Rogers gave the club Thursday is harder to replicate and more immediately important for a team that badly needs starting pitching to carry it back toward contention.