HOUSTON — No team in MLB has hit more home runs this season than the Orioles, and, not surprisingly, they’re making long-range hitting history in the process.
Jordan Westberg hit a solo home run off right-hander Ronel Blanco in the second inning of a Saturday afternoon game against Houston at Minute Maid Park. It was the Orioles’ 124th home run of the season and Baltimore’s 21st consecutive game with at least one home run, a franchise record.
The Orioles’ record of 20 consecutive games with a home run was set in 1998 (July 17-August 9). The record for consecutive home runs in the AL and NL combined is 31 consecutive games set by the Yankees in 2019 (May 26-June 30).
Baltimore has had a lot of home runs from players this year, with seven players hitting at least nine home runs, including five in double figures. Westberg’s no-doubt homer was his 12th of 2024.
It was also the first of Westberg’s 15 career home runs to come in his native Texas. The 25-year-old grew up in New Braunfels, about 175 miles west of Minute Maid Park. Was it a meaningful experience for him?
“Yeah, it was at the time, but all I wanted was to win. It was a tough loss. It was a frustrating loss,” Westberg said. “So, it felt good at the time, but it wore off pretty quickly. This loss, any loss is tough, but this was a frustrating loss.”
Like many in the Orioles clubhouse, Westberg is fiercely competitive, so it wasn’t surprising he was more concerned with the loss to Blanco, who gave up just one run in seven innings and just four hits in 14 starts to lower his ERA to 2.34 than with the home run record or the sentimental factor of having family and friends in the stands.
Blanco outhit Baltimore ace Corbin Burnes, whose career-high streak of quality starts came to an end at 10. The right-hander gave up four runs on five hits, including a two-run homer by Yordan Alvarez in the third inning and a solo homer by Chas McCormick in the fifth.
But Burns still managed to complete the seven innings, retiring 21 of the 26 batters he faced.
“I pitched really well today. That’s kind of weird to say when you’re down 5-1 and you’ve given up four runs,” Burns said. “But I just looked back after the game and my control-wise was the best I’ve ever been. My content-wise was the best I’ve ever been. I made a couple of mistakes, left the ball on home plate, and they struck me out. Other than that, it was a 1-1 game for the seventh inning.”
Before facing Blanco, the Orioles had already faced some top-tier starting pitchers in recent weeks, and their lineup continued to perform well, picking up wins against Braves lefty Max Fried (four runs in five innings on June 11), Phillies righty Zack Wheeler (eight runs in 4 1/3 innings last Sunday) and Yankees righty Luis Gil (seven runs in 1 1/3 innings on Thursday).
Coach Brandon Hyde credited Baltimore’s offensive success to the game plan his players and co-hitting coaches Matt Borgschulte and Ryan Fuller laid out in advance.
“When we go into the game, our guys are as prepared as they can be and we have the talent,” Hyde said. “We’ve faced some good starting pitchers, but we also have some really good hitters who are having great years.”
That’s a key reason the Orioles aren’t worried about their two-game losing streak getting worse, even though they have games in each of the next eight days to close out this month of 29 games in 30 days. After all, they had allowed 28 runs over the previous two days before Saturday’s low-key game.
The Orioles return home on Monday for a seven-game series against the AL Central-leading Guardians and the defending World Series champion Rangers, but first Baltimore has one more game in Houston to wrap up a six-game road trip that saw them win two of three at Yankee Stadium.
“We knew it was going to be tough going into this period, and we knew June was going to be tough with the caliber of teams we’re facing and the amount of back-to-back games,” Westberg said. “But that’s what we signed up for. We’re looking forward to it. At the end of the day, we’re all competitors and with these two guys, we’re going to bounce back tomorrow and try to get back in the series.”
