bird feed

After a rather weak start to his season that included a stint on the injured list, Jordan Westburg has been coming on strong for Baltimore this month. Former Mississippi State star Westburg, batting leadoff, went 4-for-6 with two doubles, an RBI and four runs to spark the Orioles to a 16-4 win over Toronto in the first game of a Tuesday twinbill. Westburg is batting .337 in July, with seven knocks in his last two games, boosting his season average to .269. He was at .217 when he went on the IL in late April. For the year, the 2024 All-Star third baseman has 11 homers, 24 RBIs and 42 runs in 56 games for the underachieving Orioles. They did sweep first-place Toronto on Tuesday to extend their win streak to five but are just 50-58. In more Bird news: The Orioles called up ex-Ole Miss standout Houston Roth as an extra pitcher on Tuesday, but he did not play. It might be a short-term stay. The right-hander, a 2019 draftee by Baltimore, is having a good year, with a 2.21 ERA, four wins and two saves in 24 relief appearances between Double-A and Triple-A. The O’s also have MSU alum Preston Johnson, a 2022 draftee, at Triple-A Norfolk, though he has not pitched well there since moving up earlier this month. Baltimore promoted Southern Miss product Reed Trimble to Norfolk, but the outfielder didn’t play Tuesday. A 2021 draftee, he is batting .227 with nine homers and 10 steals on the season. Of note: The Orioles drafted — and have signed — two juco pitchers from Mississippi this year: Pearl River Community College ace K.K. Clark and Meridian CC star Conner Gehr. P.S. USM alum Hurston Waldrep, who was reportedly being promoted to Atlanta, instead tossed seven shutout innings with eight strikeouts for Triple-A Gwinnett. He is 7-8, 4.42 ERA. … Former Ole Miss star Drew Pomeranz faced four batters and retired one for the Chicago Cubs in their 9-3 loss to Milwaukee. The veteran lefty wasn’t charged with a run but has yielded five over his last seven outings (9.64 ERA) after throwing 26 scoreless innings to begin his Cubs tenure. … Petal High’s Trey Barnes will play in today’s Hank Aaron Invitational, a premier prep showcase event, at Birmingham’s Rickwood Field. A USM commit, Barnes hit .404 with four homers and 29 RBIs as a junior at Petal last season.