Orioles’ Jordan Westburg delivers walk-off hit to beat Diamondbacks

Baltimore Orioles third baseman Jordan Westburg hit a walk-off single just inside the first-base line in the bottom of the 11th inning to beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 5-4 on Saturday.

The D-backs (18-22) entered the series on a four-game win streak but have dropped the first two at Camden Yards by a combined three runs.

Jordan Westburg’s 4th hit of the day is a #walkoff winner! pic.twitter.com/Hq4Pb76Suc

— MLB (@MLB) May 11, 2024

Arizona never trailed Saturday’s ballgame until the 11th inning, leading 4-3 entering the eighth. Orioles outfielder Anthony Santander homered off Kevin Ginkel to tie the game, and the O’s threatened Paul Sewald in the ninth with a runner on second and one out. Sewald escaped the inning to send the ballgame to extras, but the D-backs failed to even move the ghost runner in the 10th.

Arizona manager Torey Lovullo opted to intentionally walk Ryan O’Hearn to lead off the bottom half to set up a double play, and reliever Bryce Jarvis struck out Ryan Mountcastle with a slider.

Santander walked to load the bases, and Lovullo visited the mound on how to play the situation. Colton Cowser bounced into an inning-ending double play, 4-6-3, and Jarvis pumped his fist in excitement while Cowser slammed his helmet.

Baltimore’s Craig Kimbrel stranded runners on the corners in the 11th inning, even with the speedy Corbin Carroll starting on second base. The D-backs finished 2-for-13 with runners in scoring position, and failing to score the Manfred Man again gave the bullpen no room for error.

Westburg sliced a first-pitch slider at the knees 67.3 mph of the bat the other way to win the game, his fourth hit.

“We wanted to win that for our bullpen,” Westburg said. “Our bullpen came in and threw some big-time innings. I just figured the more opportunities we had to score runs, we were going to push one across.”

The Diamondbacks dropped to 2-4 in extras this season, as the offense is 4-for-26 (.154) past the ninth inning. No team has more than four extra-inning defeats this season — the Astros and Cardinals are both 1-4.

“It’s a little bit of a stinger,” Lovullo said. “The beauty of the game is we get another shot at it tomorrow. We don’t have to wait very long. My expectation is these guys will shake it off.”

Diamondbacks take early lead

Ketel Marte first gave the D-backs a lead when he followed a Kevin Newman triple with a two-run shot to left field off Orioles left-hander John Means in the third inning. He blasted a first-pitch changeup at the knees to take a 2-0 lead.

Marte has home runs in four out of his last six games and extended his hitting streak to 12 contests. His longest career hitting streak was 16 games back in 2022.

Ketel Marte bomb over the left field wall pic.twitter.com/NhnJnRpkho

— Dillard Barnhart (@BarnHasSpoken2) May 11, 2024

The Orioles responded with two runs in the bottom half with four hits off D-backs starter Ryne Nelson. Nelson lasted 4.2 innings and allowed three runs.

The D-backs rallied to chase Means in the fifth after a Blaze Alexander flare single, Newman double and Marte hit-by-pitch loaded the bases. Carroll lined a sacrifice fly to score Alexander, and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. singled home Newman for insurance. Gurriel delivered a second-straight multi-hit game as he looks to turn it around offensively.

Orioles star Gunnar Henderson homered in the bottom half and a Mountcastle triple ended Nelson’s day. But the D-backs received great work out of the bullpen from Ryan Thompson and Joe Mantiply who retired seven straight Orioles. Ginkel had two outs before Santander lifted a fastball off the outside edge over the wall in center.

¡Anthony Santander! ¡CLUTCH! 😤 pic.twitter.com/TNE858tn2m

— LasMayores (@LasMayores) May 11, 2024

Diamondbacks’ next game

Zac Gallen will pitch Sunday’s series finale for Arizona against Baltimore’s Dean Kremer. The Diamondbacks haven’t won at Camden Yards since June 17, 2007.

First pitch is at 10:35 a.m. on 98.7 and the Arizona Sports app. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

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