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Rodriguez made solid contact with the first pitch he saw this season in a Major League game, blasting a three-run home run off the Orioles’ Jeremy Guthrie on Friday at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

The first-inning shot cleared the wall in left-center field, soaring over the marked distance of 364 feet and producing a mixed reception from the road crowd, many of them New York Yankees fans. Scoring on the homer were Johnny Damon and Mark Teixeira, providing a 3-0 lead for starter CC Sabathia.

The game marked Rodriguez’s return from right hip surgery performed on March 9 in Vail, Colo., repairing a torn labium and costing him 28 team games. Rodriguez had hit three home runs in 44 overall rehab plate appearances while working out in extended spring training in Tampa, Florida.

“It feels good to be back. I’m excited,” Rodriguez said before the game. “I’ve been waiting for this day for a long time. It’s been a long road from Colorado to Tampa and now Baltimore. I’m happy to be here.”