BALTIMORE -- During Friday’s homecoming, Kyle Stowers held court in the visitors’ dugout reminiscing about his favorite moment as an Orioles rookie at Camden Yards.
The Marlins' left fielder went back to Aug. 25, 2022, when he crushed an 0-2 pitch from White Sox veteran closer Liam Hendriks over the right-center-field wall to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth inning. The Orioles later won the game in walk-off fashion.
But during Sunday's 11-1 win, that homer took a back seat to a career-changing display from Stowers against the team that traded him away last July.
For the first time in his career, Stowers hit home runs in three consecutive at-bats -- all off Orioles starter Brandon Young -- on his way to the first five-hit game of his career. The All-Star is the first Marlins player in club history to record five hits and six RBIs in a game.
"A lot of gratitude,” Stowers said as he looked back on his career day. “Very grateful for the support that I have had here [in Miami]. Not to say I didn't have that in Baltimore, because I certainly did. Just fun to do it with these guys.
“They are really rooting for me and Connor [Norby] this series, as we all have for the various people that have played against former teams. I got a lot of love for the Orioles organization, but it definitely felt really good to have a game like that against them."
Stowers becomes the fifth player to hit three homers against the team that traded him the previous season or the same season. The Yankees’ Cody Bellinger hit three homers against the Cubs Friday night.
It marks the fourth time in Marlins history a batter hit at least three homers in a game (Brian Anderson, 2020). Twenty-one of Stowers' 25 career homers have come in a Marlins uniform, 19 this season.
"What a day, and for it to be here,” said manager Clayton McCullough. “That's a career-type day. Five knocks and three homers, great for him. We've talked about Kyle all season long, with how not only he has performed, but how great a person Kyle is, how great a teammate he is.
“What a special day for him. Cool that we were all able to be a part of that and on the eve of heading to his first All-Star Game to have that kind of performance to end the half, which has been a great half for him. Lucky to get a front-row seat on some days that are special like that."
Leading off the second inning, Stowers launched a 403-foot homer to the same part of the field as he did as a rookie for a solo shot against Young, his 17th of the season.
Then in the next inning, Stowers got a hold of a first-pitch 76.1 mph curveball from Young for a two-run shot to boost the Marlins’ lead to 4-0.
It was the fourth time this season Stowers had hit two homers in a game and the first time since May 14 at the Cubs.
But he wasn’t done.
Stowers came up again in the fifth and blasted his 19th homer of the season -- and third in a row off Young -- over the right-field wall. The two-run shot lifted the Marlins to a 7-0 lead and sent Young to the showers.
"I didn't necessarily feel perfect in the cage, but sometimes that's a good thing,” Stowers said. “When you are working on solving problems in the cage, you are starting that solution oriented approach before the at-bats start. I train hard in the cage, and I'm trying to figure out what holes I have on that given day."
Was it in his mind to hit a fourth homer when he stepped to the plate in the seventh inning?
"Yeah, 100 percent,” Stowers said. “I wouldn't say I'm actively trying to hit a home run every single at-bat. But I want to hit the ball hard in the air. If I get the ball hard in the air I know I have a chance to drive the ball. I was just kind of trying to do that."
To complete the day, he added a pair of hard-hit singles to right field, but laughed when he saw the reaction of his teammates when he got back to the dugout.
"I don't think I'll ever forget my teammates booing me for my fourth and fifth at-bats because I only hit a single,” he said. “That was pretty funny."