On Saturday the Baltimore Orioles defeated the Toronto Blue Jays 9-5 and the catalyst was Jordan Westburg. The Orioles second baseman went 4 for 5 with 2 homeruns, one in the first inning and the other in the seventh, 3 runs scored and 2 RBI on the day, illustrating why the Birds offense struggled during his absence in 2024. Westburg now has three homeruns on the season.
Dean Kremer (1-0) made the start but struggled in the first inning, allowing three straight singles to open the frame and eventually allow two runs. Kremer settled down and ultimately earned the win for his 5 run, 5 hit, 2 walk and 6 strike out effort over 5.1 innings. He did give up a homerun to Andres Gimenez and threw a wild pitch as well. The offense rewarded Kremer for grinding out the start.
Colton Cowser (1 for 5, HR, R, RBI) led off the game with his first homerun of the season, a 417′ blast that hit the backdrop in centerfield.
The fourth inning was big for the Bird’s bats as they scored four runs. Ryan O’Hearn (2 for 5, 2B, R) led off the inning with a double and then with one out, Cedric Mullins (1 for 4, R, RBI, SB, HBP) and Heston Kjerstad (0 for 2, R, RBI, HBP) were hit by pitches back-to-back. Gary Sanchez (0 for 3, RBI) knocked in O’Hearn with a sac fly before Jackson Holliday (0 for 3, R, BB) walked to load the bases. Ramon Urias (3 for 4, 2B, 3 RBI) cleared the bases with a double, giving the Orioles a 6-4 lead.
Adley Rutschman went 1 for 5 with a double and a run scored, joining O’Hearn on the team’s extra-base hit fishing excursion.
Saturday’s game also saw “the Rock” and “the Mountain” pitch in the same contest. Yennier Cano pitched the seventh inning and allowed 1 hit while striking out 2. Felix Bautista struck out three to work around a Bo Bichette double and an Anthony Santander walk in the ninth.
2025 Record: 2-1
Next Game: Sun. 3/30 @ 1:37 pm in Toronto