Heston Kjerstad’s first career grand slam powers Orioles’ 6-5 win over Rangers
BALTIMORE – Heston Kjerstad is finally getting his chance to play on a regular basis. He’s taking full advantage. The Baltimore Orioles’ outfield prospect started Saturday for the fourth time in six games and rewarded his club’s confidence with a go-ahead grand slam to help beat the Texas Rangers, 6-5, in front of a sold-out crowd of 44,286 at Camden Yards. It was the first grand slam, and fourth home run, of his young career.
Kjerstad, 25, has done everything right to earn an everyday job at the major league level. Baseball America’s No. 23 overall prospect has crushed Triple-A pitching this season, posting a .998 OPS with 16 home runs in 56 games with the Norfolk Tides. He earned a call-up once this year already, but at-bats were sparse as the Orioles (53-30) only fit him in for 17 plate appearances across nearly three weeks. Now, Kjerstad is back and finally getting the opportunity he has been waiting for the last two years. After admitting Thursday he was pressing during his first stint with the Orioles this season, Kjerstad is feeling more comfortable this time around and it’s showing through the results. Kjerstad is 5 for 12 (.417) with two home runs, a double and seven RBIs. He’s only struck out once over that span. His blast came at a critical juncture of the game. The Orioles trailed 2-1 in the fifth
after Derek Hill’s solo home run off Cade Povich gave Texas the lead. Baltimore countered a Rangers first-inning home run by Corey Seager with one by Anthony Santander, but Rangers starter Michael Lorenzen had limited the Orioles to one other hit through the first four frames. Gunnar Henderson, who turned 23 on Saturday, reversed that trend with a one-out hustle double to left-center field. Ryan O’Hearn and Anthony Santander then drew back-to-back walks, bringing up Kjerstad for just his 32nd plate appearance of the season. He caught an inside cutter on the barrel and sent it 395 feet to right field. The home run helped Povich pick up the first win of his MLB career. He went five innings, holding the Rangers to two runs on five hits and zero walks with three strikeouts. Povich has completed at least five innings in four of his five starts since getting the call from Triple-A; he’s posted a 4.05 ERA with 17 strikeouts and 10 walks. Santander’s homer was part of a historic 2-for-3 evening. The Orioles’ switch-hitting right fielder hit his 13th home run of the month, tying Frank Robinson and Nelson Cruz for the most home runs any month in franchise history. His home run was also the Orioles’ 59th of the month as a team, another new record that was extended to 60 on Kjerstad’s shot. Santander then added a key insurance run in the seventh
with a ground-rule double. That run proved to be crucial as the Rangers kept it close against the Orioles’ bullpen. Nathaniel Lowe hit a two-run wall-scraper off Bryan Baker in the sixth and Adolis García went deep against Jacob Webb for a solo shot in the eighth. However, Yennier Cano bounced back from a rough outing Friday with a scoreless seventh, Cionel Pérez relieved Webb to get through the eighth and Craig Kimbrel secured his second one-run save in as many days after going the entire season without one heading into this weekend. Not only did the Orioles hand the Rangers their sixth loss in a row – and third straight to open this series – but star shortstop Seager also left the game after being hit in the left wrist on a pitch by Povich in the fifth. X-rays were negative and the Rangers announced he would be reevaluated Sunday. His status for the series finale is uncertain.
