Orioles get bad news on slugger who was expected to rejoin lineup soon

The Baltimore Orioles began Wednesday with good news, as infielder Ramon Urias was reinstated from the injured list. Urias is the latest in a string of Orioles players returning from injury. Unfortunately, one key Baltimore player remains on the mend, and there is no firm timetable for his return.

Manager Brandon Hyde said Wednesday that third baseman Jordan Westburg suffered a setback and is shut down from running for the time being, per Jake Rill. Westburg is down with a left hamstring strain and hasn't played since April 26.

The 2024 All-Star was supposed to begin a minor league rehab assignment late last week, but needed more time to recover. The Orioles were hopeful he could play this week. Instead, Westburg will pause his activity.

The Orioles are desperately missing Westburg. Baltimore's third basemen rank 26th with a .579 on-base plus slugging percentage. Westburg has a .657 OPS in 23 games, and finished 2024 with a .792 mark and 49 extra-base hits.

The 26-year-old was heating up before the injury. Westburg had nine hits in his last seven games, four of them for extra bases. He raised his batting average from .175 to .217.

Urias will likely get the bulk of the playing time at third base while Westburg rests. Emmanuel Rivera started five consecutive games at third before Urias was in the lineup for game one Wednesday.

Bad inning dooms Dean Kremer, Orioles in first game of doubleheader

The weather cleared up enough for the Orioles and Twins to begin their traditional doubleheader early Wednesday afternoon. Despite Baltimore forcing Minnesota starting pitcher Bailey Ober out of the game in the bottom of the fifth inning, the O's dropped another game to the Twins.

Baltimore started the day with a 6-3 loss to Minnesota, in a game the Orioles held a brief 3-0 lead. Gunnar Henderson's two-run home run followed Ryan Mountcastle's RBI double in the bottom of the third, putting the O's on top. The lead lasted all of six batters.

Brooks Lee led off the top of the fourth with a solo homer before Christian Vazquez clubbed his first home run of the season, plating three runs. The four-run inning was all the Twins needed, as the Orioles recorded just two hits after the third inning. Baltimore had four total, two each from Henderson and Mountcastle.

Chayce McDermott will attempt to give the Orioles a bump when he takes the mound for game two. Baltimore's fourth-ranked prospect per MLB Pipeline looked sharp in a pair of rehab starts in Triple-A.

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