It sure took a while – the game itself lasted two hours and 57 minutes and there were two rain delays totaling an hour and 59 minutes – but the Orioles won another series opener Monday night. On the occasion of Jordan Westburg’s major league debut they beat Cincinnati 10-3. They are now 18-8 in series-opening games and 8-5 when the opener is at home.
Westburg went 1-for-4, and his bloop single in the fifth was his first big league hit. He also scored his first run and produced his first RBI and played solid defense at second base.
The Orioles had scored just 10 runs over the weekend in taking two of three from Seattle, and then got 10 in one night. They have scored 10 runs or more in a game six times this year.
Because they trailed 1-0 in the first inning, this was technically their 28th comeback win of the year. When the game began the O’s and Reds were both at 27 comeback victories to tie for the major league lead. Even though the O’s were leading by the second inning and never trailed after that, last night's game is another comeback win officially on their record.
At 48-29 (.623) the Orioles moved to within four games of idle Tampa Bay for the American League East lead. They have the third best record in the majors, behind only Tampa Bay (54-27, .667) and Atlanta (51-27, .654).