Another hot start to savor

BOSTON — Maybe they’re the horse that simply reacts the fastest as the starting gate opens but can’t keep up once the rest of the field hits its strides. Perhaps these Orioles are simply going to blow up their rebuilding schedule and not fall back to earth after a third straight season-opening series win against a division rival.

This weekend’s three wins over the Boston Red Sox aren’t to be scoffed at either way. Looking back at the team’s evolution, and how they regarded their improbable winning weekends in each case, charts a trajectory of progress that’s to be savored.

When the Orioles went into the Bronx and stole two of three from the New York Yankees after getting thumped on Opening Day in 2019, part of a 4-2 start that represented the high-water mark of the season, everything was new.

After an injury adjustment to their rotation forced them into a bullpen game on the second day of the season, they used every pitcher they could and worked around 22 walks in three games, managing to win the series despite having a lineup full of waiver claims — some of whom had only just arrived.

Manager Brandon Hyde and starter John Means got tossed in laundry carts and covered with beer and condiments for their first victories. The Orioles weren’t going to win much, but they were going to enjoy it when they did — and stay the course for how to set the stage for a winning team years down the road.

“I just think this is how you grow as a team, honestly,” Hyde said at the time. “Playing games