Orioles' Jordan Westburg bails out Craig Kimbrel with electrifying walk-off homer

The Orioles picked up their first walk off win of the season thanks to Jordan Westburg's heroics

Kansas City Royals v Baltimore Orioles: Jordan Westburg celebrates after hitting a walk off home run for the Orioles
Kansas City Royals v Baltimore Orioles: Jordan Westburg celebrates after hitting a walk off home run for the Orioles / Mitchell Layton/GettyImages

After a thrilling series victory to start the season against the Los Angeles Angels, the Baltimore Orioles entered their second series of the season against the Kansas City Royals riding high, with both the bats and the arms off to impressive starts.

However, the Orioles found themselves in a precarious position late in Game 1 of their second set. Craig Kimbrel, one of the headline acquisitions of the offseason, was on for his first save attempt and it didn't end well. He wasn't able to protect the 4-3 lead he entered with, as the Royals tied the game thanks to Dairon Blanco scoring on a Maikel Garcia sac fly.

Luckily for Kimbrel and the Orioles, the offense came to the rescue in the bottom of the ninth. The savior tonight was Jordan Westburg, who blasted a walk-off, two-run home run to right field to give the Orioles a dramatic 6-4 victory.

Jordan Westburg saves Orioles with walk-off home run against Nick Anderson and the Royals

With the Orioles choosing to keep both Ramón Urías and Jorge Mateo on the roster, there were some questions around how much Westburg would play in the infield. Through four games, he's played a little bit of everything. He got the start at DH on Opening Day and has played at second, third, and shortstop thus far.

Although the Orioles do have two veterans in Mateo and Urías on the roster looking for playing time, there should be no reason that Westburg isn't an everyday player for the Orioles this season. He had a solid first impression upon his callup in the middle of the season last year, and his stats have done nothing to warrant less playing time.

Westburg was as big a reason as any that the Orioles picked up their third win of the season to kick off their series against the Royals, and an impact contributor like him should be playing every day. He's already showing exactly why.

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