Between the weather forecast and the injury report, the home opener at Camden Yards was rumbling with ill omens.

Aside from the storm front sweeping from the west, the darkest cloud looming over the Orioles clubhouse was the news that Colton Cowser will miss six to eight weeks with a left thumb fracture. Before the first day in April, Baltimore already found itself plenty beat up out of the starting gate. And what’s supposed to be the best day in baseball — the home opener — looked like it might be hampered by a downpour.

“You weren’t sure if we were going to play five or nine,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “You’re hoping for the best.”

Here’s what happened Monday: With an earlier start time, the game went off with the sun sparkling down on the sold-out crowd, raising their beers and waving their orange rally towels. And instead of one or two explosive performances, the Orioles made do with a lot of players putting in a little bit to get across the finish line.

A lineup without two of its biggest bats (Gunnar Henderson and Cowser) rocked the Red Sox for 15 hits — only two for extra bases and none of them home runs — in an 8-5 win that squeezed the most out of the unseasonably pleasant spring heat. Cade Povich had eight strikeouts but lasted just barely into the fifth inning before five relievers were needed to bring a W home.

That’s the kind of baseball the Orioles will need to play right now, exactly the kind they struggled to play down the stretch of last season. If their season opener in Toronto was an all-you-can-eat home run buffet, this was a meal scraped together from leftovers hanging out in the fridge — there’s still a lot to eat, but it’s not all prime cut.

Only the Yankees and Dodgers — the two teams from last year’s World Series — have hit more homers than the Orioles so far this season. But the hand-wringing over the Orioles’ boom-or-bust offense last season, in which it only seemed like hitting over the fence did the job, is real.

Baltimore was 59-12 when it hit two or more homers, but 31-60 without multiple dingers. They were just average with runners in scoring position (17th in average and 16th in OPS), and the bottom fell out in the playoffs.

Monday’s effort was a confidence-building counterpoint that they can win without the long ball. It wasn’t perfect, with a seven-inning lull between scoring frames and Jackson Holliday caught stealing, but the fact that the Orioles are looking to manufacture offense through more aggressive baserunning and timely drives is encouraging.

“We’re gonna hit our homers — I’m not worried about that,” Hyde said. “I like us putting the ball in play and making things happen. We’re athletic, we can run, we can do certain things. And when our guys stay on the baseball like they did today and use the whole field, good things can happen.”

The pitching effort played out that way, too. It’s already going to be a hike without Kyle Bradish and Grayson Rodriguez in the starting rotation, and while Povich is a promising young arm, efficiency is an issue. He threw 94 pitches in just 4 1/3 innings, a problem for a bullpen that is going to be taxed early on this season — even before accounting for the absence of Albert Suárez, last season’s workhorse.

But the next four relievers to come in for the O’s didn’t allow an earned run. And while Felix Bautista looked a bit rusty in his Oriole Park return, he walked to the mound with a five-run cushion that proved to be enough to get out of the park with a win.

“Impressed for sure, but nothing I wouldn’t expect from them,” Povich said of the bullpen. “I know we have a bunch of great guys coming in behind.”

It might be like this for a while. Though Henderson should be back soon, the other big names have more nebulous return dates. After the endurance trial of the last months of last season, Baltimore will have to take the big blasts and quality starts when they come, but work around it when those things don’t happen.

The Orioles are going to need to win both ways. They’re going have to make the most of the sunshine they can get.