Westburg honored, Hays stays out of lineup and other notes

Orioles infielder Jordan Westburg was named the American League’s Player of the Week after batting .478 (11-for-23) with a .913 slugging percentage, two doubles, a triple, two home runs, eight RBIs, a walk, five runs scored and a stolen base in six games.

Westburg led the majors in batting average and OPS (1.413), tied for the lead in total bases (21) and ranked second in slugging. He tied for the AL lead in RBIs and tied for third in on-base percentage (.500) and hits (11).

The Orioles are on an award roll with Colton Cowser winning it last week.

This is only the third time that the team’s had back-to-back recipients. Eddie Murray won it on Sept. 13-20, 1981. Don Baylor was honored on Aug. 10, 1975, followed by co-winners Jim Palmer and Ken Singleton on the 17^th.

Westburg is batting .457 (16-for-35) during a nine-game hitting streak. He’s batting third tonight in Anaheim, where the Orioles begin a three-game series.

Cedric Mullins earned his seventh career Electric Play of the Week Award for his diving catch on April 15 against the Twins.

This is the first time that the Orioles won Player of the Week and Electric Play of the Week since Sept. 23, 2019 with Trey Mancini and Austin Hays, respectively.

Hays remains out of the lineup after leaving Saturday’s game with calf soreness. Cowser is in left field against Angels left-hander Reid Detmers.

Ramón Urías is getting the start at first base. Jorge Mateo is playing second base, putting Jackson Holliday on the bench.

Ryan Mountcastle also is out of the lineup.

In Hays’ last visit to Anaheim on Sept. 6, 2023, he went 4-for-4 with a double, home run, four RBIs and three runs scored.

Albert Suárez makes his second Orioles start after blanking the Twins Wednesday over 5 2/3 innings. Manager Brandon Hyde is keeping Suárez on regular rest.

Suárez and Mike Wright are the only Orioles pitchers to toss at least five scoreless innings without a walk in their first start with the team. He’s never faced the Angels.

Adley Rutschman’s nine multi-hit games are tied with Arizona’s Ketel Marte for most of any switch-hitter in the majors.

The Orioles have seven hitters with 10 or more RBIs this season, tied with the Padres for most in the majors. They also have seven players with 10 or more runs scored, trailing only the Braves with eight.

The Orioles have gone 19 straight games against the Angels without consecutive losses, their longest active streak against any opponent, according to STATS. They’ve won or tied the last six series, their second-best active streak against any team after the Royals (eight).

Also per STATS, the left side of the Orioles field – third base, shortstop and left field – leads the majors with 14 home runs and a .530 slugging percentage.

Gunnar Henderson has 197 hits and is trying to become the sixth Oriole to reach 200 before his 23^rd birthday, joining Murray, Manny Machado, Boog Powell, Brooks Robinson and Cal Ripken Jr.

Statcast data shows the Orioles leading the majors with a 90.5 mph average exit velocity. They also lead with 59 barrels and are tied for second with 261 hard-hit balls.

Detmers is 3-0 with a 1.19 ERA and 0.971 WHIP in four starts. He hadn’t surrendered a home run in 22 2/3 innings and has struck out 30.

Detmers’ first start came against the Orioles on March 31 at Camden Yards and he held them to one run and two hits in 5 1/3 innings. He hasn’t allowed more than one earned run in any start this season.

The Orioles have faced Detmers four times in his career and he’s limited them to four earned runs and five total in 22 2/3 innings.

Mike Trout and Taylor Ward account for 14 of the Angels’ 22 home runs. That’s first in the majors among duos.

Angels pitchers have allowed 11 home runs in their first six home games this season, tied for the most in team history, per STATS.

Los Angeles has trailed in each of its last nine games and has gone 2-7. The Rockies have the longest active streak at 28.

The Orioles, meanwhile, are 115-30 when having a lead since the start of the 2023 season, best in the majors.

Single-A Delmarva’s Trey Gibson was named Carolina League Pitcher of the Week after tossing five scoreless and hitless relief innings and striking out eight batters Wednesday against Down East. He retired 15 of 16 batters.

For the Orioles

Gunnar Henderson SS
Adley Rutschman DH
Jordan Westburg 3B
Anthony Santander RF
Ramón Urías 1B
Cedric Mullins CF
James McCann C
Colton Cowser LF
Jorge Mateo 2B

Albert Suárez RHP

For the Angels

Nolan Schanuel 1B
Mike Trout CF
Taylor Ward LF
Miguel Sanó 3B
Mickey Moniak DH
Jo Adell RF
Logan O’Hoppe C
Ehire Adrianza 2B
Zach Neto SS

Reid Detmers LHP

Steve Melewski is handling game coverage and other notes from Anaheim.