On a damp and chilly Monday evening at Oriole Park, the Baltimore Orioles defeated the Kansas City Royals by a score of 6-4 on a Jordan Westburg (1 for 4, HR, R, 2 RBI) ninth inning walk-off homerun to the bleachers in right-center.
Westburg’s homerun took Craig Kimbrel (1-0) from a blown save to a winning pitcher. Kimbrel surrendered a run on 1 hit and struck out 2 in the ninth, allowing the Royals to tie the game at 4 apiece.
Starter Dean Kremer (5.1 IP, 3 R, 3 H [2 HR], BB, 5 K) settled down after allowing 3 runs in the third, retiring 8 of the final 9 batters he faced. One thing to keep an eye on is Kremer’s left arm (non-throwing); he clutched it at least twice during the sixth inning.
Keegan Akin (1.1 IP, H, K) and Yennier Cano (1.1 IP, 2 H, BB, K) kept the Royals offense in check.
After a shaky first inning by the Orioles defense (two fielding errors), that defense played a big role in the game. Adley Rutschman (2 for 3, 2B, R, BB) made a sliding catch on a foul ball in front of the Kansas City dugout and Ryan Mountcastle (2 for 4, HR, R, 3 RBI) made a put out by diving into the first base bag on a ball he stopped at the cut of the grass. Mountcastle’s fourth inning homerun tied the game at three. Following that homerun we caught a glimpse of the “homerun handle bars”.
New homer celly
pic.twitter.com/IIJ0jDUj5A
— Baltimore Orioles (@Orioles) April 1, 2024
Singles by Gunnar Henderson (1 for 4, R) and Rutschman in the eighth inning provided Mountcastle another RBI opportunity.
Kansas City tied the game on a bloop single, two stolen bases and a sac. fly, setting the stage for the Westburg walk-off. Lost in all the post game excitement is the fact that with the win, the Orioles extend their streak of not being swept in a regular season series.
2024 Record: 3-1
Next Game: Tues. 4/2 @ 6:35pm vs. Kansas City Royals