O'Neill praises Baltimore crowd in home debut: 'Awesome out there'

BALTIMORE (AP) — Boston manager Alex Cora wasn't surprised when Tyler O'Neill hit yet another opening day home run last week.

“Obviously we cannot bet on baseball, but that was the easiest bet," Cora said before Monday's game at Baltimore. "Opening day in Canada.”

Turns out O'Neill is more than just a Game 1 wonder.

O'Neill had four hits in his home debut with Baltimore, helping the Orioles to an 8-5 victory over Cora and the Red Sox. The outfielder has already turned heads with his record streak of homering on opening day, which the British Columbia native extended to six years Thursday when he went deep for Baltimore at Toronto.

Monday's game wasn't opening day for the Orioles' season, but it was their home opener — and O'Neill shined against his former team.

“I was just really trying to feel the energy of the crowd, experience the city of Baltimore,” said O'Neill, who went from the Red Sox to the Orioles this past offseason as a free agent. “It was awesome out there today.”

O'Neill singled home a run to open the scoring in the first inning, then came around himself to score in that four-run rally. He added another single in the third, a double in the fifth, then started another four-run inning with a leadoff single in the eighth.

O'Neill is the most significant addition to a Baltimore lineup that lost Anthony Santander via free agency.

“Anytime we're putting up 15 hits on the board, it's going to be a fun time for the offense,” O'Neill said. “A lot of multihit games all up and down the lineup. Creating a lot of traffic today.”

O'Neill is 8 for 14 this season.

“When you have a day game on opening day at home, there's a big-time rush,” Baltimore manager Brandon Hyde said. “You have a million boxes in your locker, you're trying to go out for BP, you're trying to get a sense of the ballpark. ... I love his intensity. I love how he loves to compete.”

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