BOSTON (AP) — Jordan Westburg hit a go-ahead homer in the seventh inning and the Baltimore Orioles erased a five-run deficit to beat the Boston Red Sox 7-5 on Wednesday night.
“The way he swung the bat tonight, a huge hit for us,” Baltimore manager Brandon Hyde said. “He’s starting to get comfortable in the big leagues and he’s taking really good at-bats.”
Jackson Holliday, baseball’s top-rated prospect, made his major league debut for the Orioles and went 0 for 4 with two strikeouts and an RBI groundout. The 20-year-old infielder, selected first in the 2022 amateur draft, started at second base and batted ninth.
“He puts together a pretty good at-bat, doesn’t chase a whole lot. He makes you be around the zone,” Red Sox pitcher Kutter Crawford said.
Boston wasted a strong start by Crawford, who threw five scoreless innings. He allowed two hits and four walks with six strikeouts and a hit batter.
“He was good,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “At one point there, he lost his delivery. But he battled. He gave us five. He gave us enough.”
Cole Irvin started for Baltimore, giving up five runs on seven hits and three walks in five innings. He struck out four.
“I thought I executed some really good pitches,” Irvin said. “I felt really good today. I think it’s one of those days where you feel good, thought you executed properly, and we got the win — that’s all that matters.”
Triston Casas hit a two-run homer to give the Red Sox a 5-0 lead in the fifth.
The Orioles scored three times in the sixth, with four consecutive hits off reliever Isaiah Campbell to open the inning. Holliday snapped the streak with a groundout that drove in a run.
Baltimore added four runs in the seventh off Chris Martin (1-1), including Westburg’s three-run shot that gave the Orioles a 7-5 lead. It was his second homer of the season.
“I did a pretty bad job of managing that inning,” Martin said. “Obviously, a lot of things happened. But, just a bad job by me.”
Mike Baumann (1-0) struck out three in a scoreless inning and Craig Kimbrel fanned two in the ninth for his second save.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Red Sox: LHP Chris Murphy underwent ulnar collateral ligament surgery on his pitching elbow. He will be out for the season. … INF Rob Refsnyder, out all season with a broken left toe, began a rehab assignment with Triple-A Worcester and went 0 for 3 as the DH. … INF Vaughn Grissom (left hamstring strain) will begin a rehab assignment this weekend.
UP NEXT
Orioles RHP Grayson Rodriguez (2-0, 2.19 ERA) starts against RHP Garrett Whitlock (1-0, 0.96) when the AL East rivals wrap up their three-game series Thursday.
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