Orioles recall Kjerstad and DFA Maton

The Orioles made last night’s reported move official today by recalling outfielder Heston Kjerstad from Triple-A Norfolk. He’s back in the majors for the third time in his career and the first since they optioned him May 13.

Infielder Nick Maton was designated for assignment to make room for Kjerstad on the active roster. The 40-man roster is reduced to 39 players.

Kjerstad is batting .300/.397/.601 with 14 doubles, a triple, 16 home runs and 58 RBIs in 56 games with Norfolk. MLB Pipeline ranks him as the No. 21 prospect in baseball.

Appearing in only seven games earlier this season, Kjerstad collected two hits and struck out six times in 14 at-bats.

The offense could use a jolt after scoring one run in each of the last two games on Jordan Westburg homers. The Orioles were swept in Houston.

Maton appeared in one game after having his contract selected and he didn’t receive an at-bat. The Orioles brought him to New York with Westburg day-to-day with a bruised left hip. They didn’t need the extra infielder after Westburg returned to the lineup Thursday.

Westburg likely will stay in tonight’s lineup at second or third base as the Orioles begin their homestand with three games against the Guardians. He’s 5-for-18 with a double and two homers since Juan Soto ran into him.

Left-hander Cade Povich is making his fourth major league start and second at home. His ERA has gone from 10.13 to 4.76 to 3.94.

The Orioles have homered in 22 consecutive games to extend the club record. They remain 1 ½ games behind the first-place Yankees.

Guardians right-hander Tanner Bibee was runner-up last year for the American League’s Rookie of the Year Award after going 10-4 with a 2.98 ERA and 1.176 WHIP in 25 starts. He’s 5-2 with a 3.65 ERA and 1.131 WHIP this season in 15 starts, and his strikeouts per nine innings have increased from 8.9 to 11.0.

In his last start, Bibee shut out the Mariners on three hits in six innings and struck out 12 batters.

Right-handers are batting .187/.227/.317 against Bibee and left-handers are batting .258/.324/.457.

Bibee is making his first career start against the Orioles. Cleveland is 12-3 in his starts this season.

Steven Kwan has 78 hits in 49 games. Per STATS, the last player with 80 hits through his first 50 games of a season is Ichiro Suzuki with 83 in 2001.

Cleveland sits in first place in the Central Division with the best record in the American League at 49-26, 7 1/2 games ahead of the Twins. They’ve won five in a row.

The Guardians are 26-9 at home and 23-17 on the road.

The Orioles went 3-4 against the Guardians last season, including 1-2 at Camden Yards. Their last three-game sweep at home came in 2016. The Guardians’ last three-game sweep in Baltimore was 2001.

Since 2017, the Orioles have posted a 14-27 record against Cleveland that’s their worst versus any opponent, per STATS. They’ve averaged only 3.80 runs per game, also their lowest.

The Orioles lead the majors with 403 runs scored and Cleveland is fifth with 379. Their 3.38 ERA is fourth, with the Guardians ranked sixth at 3.47. Their 1.16 WHIP is fourth, with the Guardians sixth a 1.18.

The Guardians lead the majors with 163 runs scored with two outs, and the Orioles are third with 154.