As Gunnar Henderson lowered his bat to the dirt, the dugout to his right rose with the trajectory of the ball. Cole Irvin and Dean Kremer led the charge with arms in the air — the fans behind the dugout weren’t far behind.
Henderson walked, then trotted. He was in no hurry, nor did he need to be. With that swing, the Orioles shortstop blasted his 18th homer of the season, tied for the major league lead. With Henderson just 22 years old, this blast — a grand slam that propelled Baltimore to a 6-1 victory against the Boston Red Sox — came with additional cache.
Henderson, the reigning American League Rookie of the Year who’s well on his way to an even higher honor, became the fourth Orioles player to reach 50 career home runs before he turns 23.
The other three? Manny Machado, Eddie Murray and Boog Powell.
Between the trio is 18 All-Star appearances and a Hall of Fame induction. That’s not bad company to keep.
“He’s electric on both sides of the ball,” right-hander Corbin Burnes said. “Makes the great plays at shortstop. Obviously, does pretty well at the plate as well. Runs the bases well, does everything well. He’s definitely been our top player this year.”
Henderson continued a torrid start to the season with his grand slam, but he wasn’t alone. Ramón Urías received a rare start and checked in with two RBIs, including a seventh-inning solo homer. And Burnes completed seven strong innings to extend his quality start streak to seven outings.
In all, Baltimore dispatched Boston in a bounce back game. On Tuesday, with the bases loaded and two outs in the sixth, Henderson came to the plate with a chance to level the game or put the Orioles ahead. He struck out on three pitches.
Given another opportunity a day later, Henderson didn’t miss. The two-out, bases-loaded opportunity Wednesday ended in Henderson’s favor when he saw an elevated sweeper left over the zone by right-hander Kutter Crawford. Henderson crushed the pitch 422 feet at 109.2 mph.
“Credit to the guys in front of me,” Henderson said, singling out James McCann for drawing his first walk of the season. “I was glad to be able to come through.”
Urías, meanwhile, recorded his first RBI since April 28 when he slapped a single through the middle in the second inning. And by the eighth, Urías clubbed his second homer of the year.
This season, Urías has seen his playing time plummet. He only featured nine times this month, with seven of those starts. Jordan Westburg has taken over everyday playing time at third, but after he was plunked by a pitch in the hand and wrist area, he was out of the lineup Wednesday. He’s not expected to miss much more time, if any, but Urías made the most of his start.
“Just trying to be ready every day when the team needs me, and today was a great night for me,” Urías said.
“It’s been a tough year for him,” manager Brandon Hyde added, “and I think he’s taken it so well and been a really good teammate.”
The run support was more than enough for Burnes, who finished seven innings for the first time since April 9. Burnes allowed an unearned run in the second inning when two errors and a fielder’s choice plated Connor Wong. He rebounded by allowing three hits overall, though, and reduced his season ERA to 2.35 in the process.
Burnes faced traffic in the seventh inning, with two runners on base, but struck out Ceddanne Rafaela to complete his outing with a yell. He received a standing ovation as he left the field, just as Henderson earned several innings before with his bases-loaded blow.
The win also caps the first third of the season for the Orioles, who are near the top of baseball at 35-19 but narrowly trail the New York Yankees in the American League East. With players such as Henderson and Burnes headlining an all-around team effort, it’s not hard to understand why.
“We’re in a great spot. Still got a long way to go,” Burnes said. “I think we’d all agree we’re playing pretty good baseball right now, but the most important part is to be healthy and play good baseball when we start October.”
