Taylor Ward is the Orioles’ leadoff hitter for Opening Day, with Gunnar Henderson batting second against the Twins at Camden Yards.

Catcher Adley Ruschman is the cleanup hitter today. Samuel Basallo is serving as the designated hitter, Tyler O’Neill is in right field and Blaze Alexander is the second baseman.

Pete Alonso is batting third in his Orioles debut.

Alonso has 264 career home runs, third most by a player through seven seasons, per STATS. Ralph Kiner hit 294 and Albert Pujols hit 282. His streak of five straight 30-homer seasons is tied for longest active with Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani.

O’Neill is trying to extend his record Opening Day home run streak to seven games.

Left-hander Trevor Rogers makes his first career Opening Day start. He already talked about it in spring training, but the assignment felt more real yesterday as he stood at his Camden Yards locker, with media jostling for position.

“It feels like it’s go time, ready to get the season underway, and finally just being with the group of guys that we’re gonna go through this six-month journey with,” he said. “So really excited to be up here and get this season going.

“It’s a big day, but after Opening Day we’ve got 161 games, so enjoy it, but at the same time treat it like any other game and go out there and execute.”

The Orioles own the best Opening Day record since 2000 at 19-7. The Dodgers are next at 18-8.

For the Orioles
Taylor Ward LF
Gunnar Henderson SS
Pete Alonso 1B
Adley Rutschman C
Samuel Basallo DH
Tyler O’Neill RF
Colton Cowser CF
Coby Mayo 3B
Blaze Alexander 2B

Trevor Rogers LHP

For the Twins
Austin Martin LF
Byron Buxton CF
Luke Keaschall 2B
Ryan Jeffers C
Matt Wallner RF
Josh Bell DH
Victor Caratini 1B
Royce Lewis 3B
Brooks Lee SS

Joe Ryan RHP

Ryan Mountcastle has an active 17-game hitting streak against the Twins. He isn’t in the lineup, but he’s going to savor the moment again. The festivities and introductions, the electricity that runs through the ballpark.

“It’s awesome here,” he said. “I love Opening Day, going down the carpet and everybody all excited for the year. It’s really cool for us.”

There will be some noticeable changes, of course, after the renovations at Camden Yards.

“It’s awesome,” Mountcastle said. “That scoreboard is insanely massive. The sound’s better. The speakers and stuff are better. The clubhouse got a little upgrade. So it’s nice.”