The Baltimore Orioles and Kansas City Royals treated fans to an edge-of-the-seat finish under the lights at Oriole Park on Monday. Trailing 3-0 early, the Orioles fought their way back into the game behind home runs from Ryan Mountcastle and Anthony Santander.
Mountcastle continued his strong start to the season with a solo shot in the fourth to get Baltimore on the board. Two batters later, Santander lined an RBI single to bring the O’s within one. Mountcastle played hero again in the eighth, lacing an RBI single up the middle to put the hosts ahead 4-3.
But the Royals refused to go down without a fight. Kyle Isbel singled home the tying run in the top of the ninth off Craig Kimbrel to force extras. In the bottom half, Jordan Westburg came through in the clutch with two outs, launching a go-ahead two-run blast to deep right field off Nick Anderson for his first homer of 2024.
Westburg’s dramatic blast proved to be the difference as the Orioles hung on for a 6-4 victory. On the mound, Dean Kremer tossed 5 1/3 innings of three-run ball for Baltimore. Michael Wacha made his Royals debut, giving up three runs over five frames in a no-decision.
