Monster mash: O's slug 1,646 feet worth of HRs

BALTIMORE -- Saturday evening brought a lot of long home runs for the Orioles -- 1,646 feet worth, to be exact.

It was the type of result almost to be expected during an American League East series featuring a Baltimore lineup that loves long balls and a Tampa Bay pitching staff susceptible to allowing them.

“It’s unbelievable what we’ve got one through nine, and when we’re all hitting, we’re pretty dangerous,” O’s first baseman Ryan Mountcastle said. “What we roll out every day, it’s not easy for pitchers.”

The task proved to be too challenging for Rays starter Taj Bradley, as the O’s clubbed a season-high-tying four homers off the right-hander and powered their way to a 9-5 win at Camden Yards. Mountcastle went deep twice -- swatting a two-run homer in the first and fourth innings -- while Anthony Santander and Jordan Westburg each provided a solo home run.

Baltimore’s previous four-homer effort came during a 9-4 win at Boston on April 11. This time, all four traveled at least 400 feet, per Statcast. The longest was Mountcastle’s 431-foot blast in the fourth, which capped his ninth career multi-homer performance.

“He’s got really the ability to get the barrel to the baseball, and when he doesn’t try to do too much and uses the middle-of-the-field approach, he’s a special hitter,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “And you saw that today.”

It was the 13th time Baltimore hit four 400-plus-foot home runs in the same game since Statcast tracking began in 2015. The Orioles accomplished the feat once in ’23, as they also had four in a 15-2 win over the Twins last July 9.

“This offense is a powerhouse,” said right-hander Kyle Bradish, who allowed five runs over 2 2/3 innings in an uncharacteristic tough start. “Luckily, we were able to put up nine runs and kind of erase the five I gave up.”

After Mountcastle got the O’s on the board with a 400-foot homer in the first, Santander went back to back with a 401-foot blast that landed on Eutaw Street -- the first hit there by a Baltimore player this season. It was Santander’s 10th career Eutaw homer, one shy of the ballpark record held by former Orioles slugger Chris Davis.

Santander learned of that later in the game from center fielder Colton Cowser, who recited the fun fact he read on the scoreboard while he and Santander ran out to the outfield on defense.

“That’s pretty special,” said Santander, who was also the star of Saturday’s bobblehead giveaway.

Westburg led off the second with a 414-foot home run in his first plate appearance since Tuesday, when he was hit by a pitch in his right hand/wrist. The 25-year-old missed the previous two games due to soreness.

Clearly, Westburg is feeling better and ready to continue his excellent first half. In addition to his homer, he collected an RBI single during a 2-for-4 showing that raised his average to .295, second among qualified Orioles hitters to only Adley Rutschman (.297).

“Just glad to be back in the lineup,” Westburg said. “Those two or three days, it feels like forever. Happy to contribute today.”

The O’s (37-19) have won eight of their past nine games to move a season-high 18 games above .500. Their 83 home runs rank second in MLB behind only the Yankees (86 entering Saturday), while the Rays have given up 77 long balls, tied with the White Sox for the most in the big leagues.

As Mountcastle noted, Baltimore’s lineup has proven to be quite deep. It has five players with at least eight homers and eight with at least six, which is the most in MLB.

2024 Orioles' home run leaderboard
1. Gunnar Henderson -- 18
T-2. Adley Rutschman, Anthony Santander -- 10
4. Jordan Westburg -- 9
5. Ryan Mountcastle -- 8
T-6. Colton Cowser, Ryan O’Hearn -- 7
8. Cedric Mullins -- 6

The power surge has helped the Orioles continue their run of divisional success.

By winning its first two meetings of the year with Tampa Bay, Baltimore has ensured it will go 19 consecutive AL East sets without a series loss, extending a franchise record. It is 14-0-5 in divisional series dating back to April 2023.

The O’s, who look to sweep the Rays on Sunday, have an MLB-best 11-3 divisional record.

“We come in every day to win games,” Santander said. “But against our division, somehow we have to put in more energy to be able to win. We’ve got a lot of games against our division, and we have to win as much as we can.”