BALTIMORE -- When Orioles interim manager Tony Mansolino filled out the lineup card on Wednesday, it didn’t look like a batting order of a team that is double-digit games below .500 on paper. That’s because Baltimore’s lineup hasn’t looked nearly this strong the past 2 1/2 months.
Beyond the loaded top four of Jackson Holliday, Adley Rutschman, Gunnar Henderson and Ryan O’Hearn was this group:
5. DH Jordan Westburg (his second game back from a left hamstring strain)
6. LF Colton Cowser (his eighth game back from a left thumb fracture)
7. RF Ramón Laureano (his fifth game back from a left ankle sprain)
8. CF Cedric Mullins (his second game back from a right hamstring strain)
9. 3B Ramón Urías (a consistent hitter pushed down the lineup by the returnees)
“It’s a nice lineup when you look at it,” Mansolino said. “When you write that thing out right there, one through nine, and you look at the six, seven, eight, nine specifically -- man, you feel pretty good.”
Mansolino felt even better by the end of the night.
The Orioles’ long-awaited offensive outburst came via a seven-run eighth inning at Camden Yards that turned a close game against the American League-best Tigers into a 10-1 rout. Baltimore tallied a season-high 16 hits, including at least one from all nine of its starters.
It was the first time the O’s (27-39) scored 10 or more runs since their 12-2 Opening Day victory at Toronto on March 27.
Of the players reinstated from the injured list this month, Westburg is providing the biggest boost. The 2024 All-Star (who had been out since April 27) homered in his return on Tuesday, then went deep again Wednesday, capping the scoring with a three-run home run tucked inside the left-field foul pole.
“I'm just happy to be back here and be back competing with this group of guys, and finding some success early is always nice,” said the 26-year-old Westburg, who went 2-for-4. “I'm not going to expect it out of myself. I kind of learned that early on in the season that I'm no good -- and it does no good -- for me to look up at the numbers and focus on results.
“So I just need to keep focusing on my process, focusing on helping these guys any way I can and just being a competitor with these guys.”
While Westburg is the “glue” to the lineup, as Mansolino stated last month, it takes contributions from others for the offense to reach its full potential, as it did during the eighth.
With the Orioles clinging to a 3-1 lead, Laureano hit a one-out single off right-hander Brenan Hanifee. Mullins followed with an RBI double, then later scored on a wild pitch by righty Beau Brieske.
Baltimore loaded the bases with two outs via an infield single by Holliday and walks from Rutschman and Henderson. O’Hearn -- who is building a strong All-Star case -- followed with a two-run single that preceded Westburg’s game-sealing blast.
“You see tonight, we were able to put up 10 runs against a really good team,” said Urías, whose two-run homer in the third opened the scoring and gave the O’s a lead they never relinquished. “We are playing better at the right time and we’re getting our boys back, and we feel better.”
“It was really fun to watch,” said right-hander Zach Eflin, who tossed 6 2/3 innings of one-run ball.
The Orioles haven’t produced many lopsided wins this season, as this marked only their fourth victory by five or more runs -- and their first since a 9-1 win over the Guardians on April 16.
“For the last month, we’ve been like, ‘Man, would love to throw up 10 tonight, make this thing a little bit easier.’ I would have loved to have done that the first few innings,” Mansolino said. “We’ll take 10 however you get them.”
The offensive barrage could be a sign of more to come for the Orioles, though they’ll face quite a challenge Thursday night, when the Tigers will send reigning AL Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal to the mound for the rubber game of the series. Skubal had 11 strikeouts over six scoreless innings vs. Baltimore on April 27.
But the O’s are healthier now, and more reinforcements are soon coming in the form of outfielder Tyler O’Neill (left shoulder impingement) and backup catcher Gary Sánchez (right wrist inflammation), who both continue to rehab at Triple-A Norfolk.
“What we have now is plenty good enough to go out and win series and win ballgames, and with guys coming back even off the IL, it's going to just keep getting better,” Westburg said. “So it's exciting to kind of dream what could happen and what we could do and just the possibilities that this club has.”