Hyde on Westburg: "I think we really caught a break and got lucky"

The 95.5 mph sinker that crashed into Jordan Westburg’s right-hand last night threw a scare into the Orioles. He didn't toss him onto the injured list.

Westburg is out of tonight’s lineup to give him an extra day to heal. X-rays came back negative, and Thursday’s off-day should improve his chances of playing Friday night against the Rays at Camden Yards.

“I think we really caught a break and got lucky,” said manager Brandon Hyde. “He’s sore, but feels a lot better than he did last night. It squared him up pretty good on the hand.”

Brayan Bello drilled Westburg in the sixth, and the infielder crouched on his way to first base as Hyde and athletic trainer Mark Shires rushed onto the field. Westburg stayed in the game, the Orioles loaded the bases with no outs, and they didn’t score.

Adley Rutschman also is out of the lineup but he’s healthy. Hyde is making concessions to the brutal schedule that includes only one open date in June.

“Kind of a planned off-day with the next 40 days of being a little bit of a grind,” Hyde said. “I think he had one Friday night and played four and today off. But you’ll probably see him in there.”

The Orioles aren’t listing their starters for the weekend series. Albert Suárez, Kyle Bradish and Cole Irvin are lined up if Hyde keeps everyone in order.

Suárez replaced Dean Kremer Saturday and tossed four scoreless innings. Kremer is eligible to return from the injured list on June 5.

Triple-A Norfolk is listing Cade Povich as Friday night’s starter against Gwinnett. Brandon Young makes his Triple-A debut tonight.

The Orioles travel to Toronto and St. Petersburg after the last home series, entertain the Braves and Phillies, get their coveted day off and travel to the Bronx and Houston.

The month ends with a home series against the Guardians and Rangers.

“We talked a lot about it last year,” Hyde said. “I remember there was a lot of lead-up into our late August-September schedule last year, which is really similar to what our June looks like this year with the one off-day. The difference a little bit last year in September is we had the one extra player. But we performed really well, we played great last year with that. A lot of people talked about these stretches we’re going to be on and how we were gonna get through it, and we got through it, and I expect us to do the same this time around.

“I don’t think the players look ahead at the schedule to see who we’re playing down the road – we’re playing Atlanta, Philly, etc. I think they’re really series-to-series, kind of game-to-game. And I think that’s the right approach, honestly We did a great job with that last year.”

Hyde must take the longer view to set up his pitching and days off.

“And things change it seems like on a nightly basis," he said.