His first rehab start in Triple-A Norfolk stirred more nerves than the Orioles’ potential playoff clincher. Having his feet back in the dirt at Camden Yards for their final regular season game in Baltimore left Jordan Westburg feeling right at home.

Westburg returned to the Orioles’ lineup Sunday for the first time since July 31, when his hand was struck by a fastball the day of Jackson Holliday’s Eutaw Street grand slam.

The home crowd of 44,040 — the first sellout since before Westburg’s injury — cheered a little louder when the 25-year-old All-Star infielder was announced over the loudspeakers. They rose for a standing ovation in anticipation of his first at-bat.

“That meant everything,” Westburg said, who finished 1-for-4 in the 4-3 loss to Detroit. “I’m just so thankful to be able to play baseball again in the regular season. So to hear that from the fans was touching.”

It didn’t take long for Westburg to settle in.

With two outs in the third, he backhanded a sharp grounder to second, spun up and flipped it over to first to end the inning. Mid-Atlantic Sports Network’s broadcast cameras panned to him on the jog back to the home dugout. Westburg popped a bubble of gum out of the corner of his mouth and shook his head with a bit of relief.

“Thrown into the fire, right? It felt good,” Westburg said. “Wouldn’t have it any other way.”

In the fifth inning, Cedric Mullins barreled a two-run home run onto the flag court that brought the Orioles within a run. Then Gunnar Henderson singled. And Westburg, in manager Brandon Hyde’s words, “smoked a ball in the gap.” The RBI double plated Henderson, which helped the Orioles crawl out of a 3-0 hole in the fifth to tie the game.

For an Orioles team on the precipice of clinching a spot in the playoffs and working to rediscover its mojo, Westburg’s return provides a needed lift.

“It’s not like he has a grace period where he can find his footing,” catcher James McCann said. “It’s now or never. We’re in the thick of it. It’s do-or-die time. For him to step up the way he did, it’s like he never missed a beat.”

Westburg slashed .269/.317/.497 in 101 games during his breakout sophomore season before the injury. He’s considered a tone-setter in the Orioles clubhouse, and that’s hard to replicate from outside the lineup.

The Orioles slogged through August and much of September without him, winning 21 games and losing 25. They were a collective shell of themselves. Their middle-of-the-order staple couldn’t do much to help, working his way back fielding grounders pregame with one hand wrapped in a brace, tucked behind his belt.

“I wanted to be as ready as possible,” Westburg said. “That’s all that was on my mind. I do think it’s helped. My legs feel good. I feel fresh. I know we have a lot of guys who played a lot this year.”

Westburg’s was another in a shuttering stretch of injuries that hit the Orioles after the All-Star break.

There was Heston Kjerstad’s concussion. Jorge Mateo underwent elbow surgery. Grayson Rodriguez was sidelined with a shoulder injury. Jacob Webb missed time with elbow inflammation. Ryan Mountcastle sprained his left wrist.

It’s hard for Westburg to pinpoint exactly when he knew, not only that a return was imminent, but that he’d be back to playing at full form. He tried to stay grounded and optimistic. But once he was able to swing the bat, fighting through discomfort while avoiding any major setback, his eyes widened.

Those nerves for three games in Norfolk didn’t appear to last long. By Friday night with the Tides, he took an at-bat 13 pitches deep then hit a solo home run – his first since July 29 against Toronto.

Whether Westburg remains a fixture at second base for the Orioles or slides back to his natural position at third, where Ramón Urías started on Sunday, also in his first game back from injury, remains to be seen. Hyde said “Westy will be in there” but was noncommittal on defensive assignments. Those will be decided day to day.

“Hopefully,” Westburg said, “I can provide a little bit of a kickstart in the lineup for us.”