'Everybody is deserving': Orioles' ASG hopefuls shine to secure series

SEATTLE -- Adley Rutschman and Gunnar Henderson made the early headlines Wednesday for Baltimore upon being named All-Star Game starters for the first time in their careers.

? Henderson, Rutschman named All-Star Game starters

A couple hours later, the four Orioles who didn’t get voted as starters took their turn to shine.

Ryan O'Hearn, Ryan Mountcastle, Anthony Santander and Jordan Westburg combined for five of Baltimore’s six hits and drove in all four runs in a 4-1 victory over Seattle at T-Mobile Park to secure a series win for the Orioles.

O’Hearn, who was edged out at DH by Houston’s Yordan Alvarez in the closest vote on the AL side of things, did the bulk of the damage, putting up his third consecutive multihit game with a pair of extra-base hits in a 2-for-3 night.

“Well, he’s been doing this all year for us -- hits after hits in big spots,” Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said.

In the top of the third inning, O’Hearn powered a 1-0 slider the other way into the left-center-field gap, just out of the reach of a diving Julio Rodríguez to plate a pair of runs. In his next at-bat, he showed off the pull-side pop, launching a cutter 379 feet into the right-field bleachers for his 11th home run of the season.

In his past three games, O’Hearn has logged seven hits and driven in four runs. Since June 1, he’s batting .341 with a .934 OPS.

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His surge has aligned perfectly with ASG voting, though O’Hearn said it’s purely coincidental.

“I’m just happy to have a good game and help the boys win,” he said. “This sounds cliche, but I’m locked in on the O’s winning the East right now. If I get to go to the All-Star Game, that would be a dream come true, it would be awesome. Either way, I’m just grateful for the love and the support that people voted for me.

“If it happens, it happens. If not, it’s all good; I’ll go home and enjoy my few days at home.”

He wasn’t the only one who started his case to be an All-Star reserve.

Mountcastle, making his return after two games out of the starting lineup due to an illness, followed O’Hearn’s double in the third with an RBI single through the right side.

Santander added a hard-hit double to the right-center-field gap. Since June 29, Santander has put 13 balls in play, with 10 having exit velocities over 95 mph; Wednesday, he had three exit velocities register over 100 mph. He also got Baltimore out of one of its few jams, covering 98 feet and breaking into a slide to snag a pop up down the line and end the seventh.

Westburg didn’t factor into the third-inning rally, but logged an unconventional double in the sixth, bouncing a hot shot off both Seattle middle infielders and into no-man’s land in center.

Baltimore, which led the American League with six All-Star finalists, increased its lead in the AL East to a season-high two games. Wednesday showed why the Orioles can be so dangerous. On a night where Henderson and Rutschman combined to go 0-for-7, the four who didn’t quite make it did nearly all the damage.

“It just speaks to the depth and speaks to the team approach on offense,” O’Hearn said. “When you have that many good hitters, guys are always on base and guys are going to put up numbers.”

The bats did enough to support Dean Kremer, who returned from the injured list in dominant form. In his first start since May 20, the right-hander struck out eight in five scoreless innings, allowing a pair of hits on 83 pitches.

“Very pleased,” Kremer said. “What I’ve been working on and chipping away at is coming to fruition.”

Craig Kimbrel -- who could earn an All-Star nod of his own -- picked up his 438th career save, moving him past Francisco Rodriguez for fourth in Major League history.

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The quartet of O’Hearn, Mountcastle, Santander and Westburg still have their chance to make it to Arlington for the Midsummer Classic as reserves. Now that the fan vote for starters has ended, voting passes to the players, who will pick each league’s backups and pitchers.

After that, the Commissioner’s Office will select six additional players for each squad.

The complete 2024 All-Star rosters, including pitchers and position player reserves for both teams, will be revealed on Sunday at 5:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.

That means that there’s still a chance for an even larger contingent of O’s in Texas.

“Everybody is very deserving,” Henderson said before Wednesday’s game. “Hopefully all of them make it.”