Jordan Westburg brought in Sunday’s game-winning run with a ball into the stands. But instead of coming off his bat, it went off his left hand.
A 101 mph fastball from Minnesota Twins right-hander Jhoan Duran nailed the Orioles’ rookie infielder with the bases loaded in Sunday’s eighth inning at Camden Yards, bringing in what proved to be the game-winning run in Baltimore’s 2-1 victory. The ball ricocheted off Westburg’s hand and over the protective netting into the seats behind home plate.
“Anything for a win,” Westburg with the hand wrapped after his sixth major league game. “My whole goal going into the at-bat was to do anything to get that run across, anything to help the team get a win, and if I got to take a hit-by-pitch, that’s fine.”
The pair of runs scored in the decisive inning was double what the Orioles (49-33) managed in their previous 27 offensive frames. With the rally, Baltimore ended its four-game losing streak and avoided what would’ve been its first sweep since May 2022.
The Orioles have not been swept in 66 series since promoting Adley Rutschman, a catcher then ranked as baseball’s top prospect, to the majors. His arrival has been transformative, with Baltimore overcoming a slow start without him to finish as the American League’s top team to miss the postseason before carrying that momentum into 2023. With a week to play before the All-Star break, the Orioles possess the AL’s third-best record.
That performance has largely been thanks to games such as Sunday’s, their 29th comeback victory.
“This is a team that’s definitely gonna grind things out,” said outfielder Aaron Hicks, who delivered a game-tying single after coming off the bench as an injury replacement for Austin Hays. “Those are teams that are hard to beat, teams that are gonna fight for every run and continue to try to come back and show that they’re not going to give up.”
Although Rutschman slumped offensively in June, his solo home run on the month’s final day accounted for the Orioles’ only run in the series before Sunday’s eighth-inning rally. He was unable to come through in two opportunities Sunday with two outs and multiple runners on base, striking out with two on in the third and flying out with the bases loaded in the fifth. But with Baltimore trailing 1-0 and five outs from being swept, Rutschman sparked a comeback with an infield single off Duran, baseball’s hardest-throwing pitcher.
Anthony Santander followed by winning a nine-pitch battle, ripping a single into center and moving Rutschman to third to close what manager Brandon Hyde called Baltimore’s “at-bat of the year.”
“Duran’s stuff is absolutely next level, and for him to be able to waste pitches and take good swings throughout the at-bat and then get that hit in that spot with Adley running on the pitch, that was an incredible at-bat by him,” Hyde said.
Hicks, who replaced Hays in left field after the Orioles’ cleanup man left the game with a bruised left hip suffered in a collision at first base, evened the game with a single. Dropped from leadoff to fifth in the Orioles’ lineup amid his struggles after coming off the injured list, Cedric Mullins laced a ball to first base but was retired as both runners advanced. After pinch-hitter Ryan O’Hearn walked, Westburg earned the game-winning RBI in painful fashion, though he remained in the game at second base as closer Félix Bautista finished off the victory by striking out the side for his 22nd save.
Westburg said he was confident the injury isn’t serious, adding he’s never been hit by a pitch that hard. Hyde said the team will perform imaging on their No. 4 prospect’s left hand.
“[Head athletic trainer Brian Ebel] did quite a few tests out there out on the field,” Hyde said. “Could’ve been adrenaline, but who knows, but [Westburg] felt like he could stay in the game and felt OK. Take [101] off the hand, he’s a pretty tough kid.”
Willi Castro’s RBI double in the fifth accounted for the only run starter Cole Irvin gave up in five innings. He pitched out of trouble in the first inning with help from a leaping catch into the wall from Mullins in center.
Right-hander Brian Baker followed with two shutout innings and left-hander Cionel Pérez provided another — his fifth straight scoreless appearance — to give the offense a chance to come back.
“All in all, it was a grinder of a start,” Irvin said. “Felt good about the end result, keeping the team in it. Bake coming in, doing a great job for two innings and then Cionel doing the same thing, and man, what an at-bat by Westy, to wear one off the hand and put our team up, and Hicks coming through with big hit. I mean, this is a grinder of a win. I think we needed that.”
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