MINNEAPOLIS — Craig Albernaz didn’t entertain the idea of moving Gunnar Henderson down in the batting order, even though his shortstop had been scuffling for much of the season.
The Orioles manager’s reasoning was this: “We’re going to keep having Gunnar in the leadoff spot because he’s a game-changing player.”
Too infrequently this season has Henderson been his game-changing self. He entered Tuesday hitless in his previous five games. His on-base-plus-slugging percentage was down to .675. And for a player who has showcased such dominant moments, Henderson appeared to be stuck in a rut — trying hard, not succeeding, then repeating the cycle.
One game is not enough to label Henderson as being out of the woods. In this 5-2 Orioles victory against the Minnesota Twins, Henderson’s success came against right-hander Bailey Ober, who’s one of baseball’s softest-throwing starters.
But for Henderson to climb out of the doldrums of this frustrating season, it will take climbing one rung at a time. So he lined a single off Ober to lead off the game. He lashed a down-and-in changeup for a two-run home run. He clobbered a double to the base of the right-center field wall at Target Field.
And he reinforced Albernaz’s belief in him.
“I know the kind of hitter I am, and I think he believes in me as well, being able to get through,” Henderson said. “I mean, obviously, this was a little bit longer than we both would want, but I felt like it was only a matter of time, and today it was a good step in the right direction.”
Those three swings led to some of the best contact Henderson has produced in a while, although Monday night exhibited promising signs, too.
Despite going hitless in the series-opening loss, Henderson belted two balls at exit velocities well above 100 mph. They were outs — right at a defender. But it showed Henderson was close.
“Obviously, didn’t get the results, and at this point of the season it was pretty frustrating,” he said. “I knew it was a matter of time, but, yeah, finally got one to go through.”
Well, he got three. And one didn’t go through so much as it went over everything. But it was an obvious relief for Henderson. To his teammates, it was nothing they didn’t expect.
“We know Gunnar,” Christian Encarnacion-Strand said. “He’s a baller.”
Of course, Henderson wasn’t alone in this offensive showcase against Ober. Pete Alonso followed Henderson’s leadoff single in the first with a two-run homer, and Encarnacion-Strand added a neck-craning, jaw-dropping 460-foot home run in the third inning.
That trio of hitters notched nine of the 11 Orioles hits.
Henderson really needed those three hits, though. The Orioles (58-62) really needed them, too.
“Not many teams have a Gunnar Henderson, and we do, and Gunnar has been struggling for the results, but the process has been great,” Albernaz said Monday. “For us to get where we need to go, Gunnar Henderson has to be Gunnar Henderson.”
At this late stage in the season, it may be too late for the Orioles to get where they’d like to go. Still, the dismal American League has left the door open for a late run at the third wild-card spot. To do that, Henderson, Alonso and others will need to carry the load.
“He’s had a tough, tough stretch this year, but he’s Gunnar Henderson,” right-hander Brandon Young said. “He can be an absolute beast, and if we’re going to make this playoff run, we’re going to need him to do what he did tonight and just be consistent. And I think he has been, I just think he’s had some tough luck out there. He’s hitting balls hard almost every game..”
To even be in this near-enough situation, the Orioles have leaned heavily on Young. Baltimore has now won 16 of the 20 games he has started, and Young lowered his ERA to 3.33 with his six innings of two-run (one earned) ball.
This wasn’t Young at his most crisp, and yet he still limited damage. The Twins recorded six hits and walked three times against him, but Young stranded eight runners. In the second, for instance, the Twins loaded the bases with no outs. Young allowed one run to score on a groundout, but that was all, with Encarnacion-Strand supplying a nice throw from third to nab a runner at home.
“It’s been fun to watch his growth in front of our eyes, to see him in spring training and to see where he’s at now,” Albernaz said. “Obviously, we had some tough injuries on the pitching side. Like we talked about, when injuries happen, it hurts for the person that got hurt, but also, it’s an opportunity for someone to step up, and B.Y. did that. He stepped up big for us, and we’ve needed it.”
The bullpen backed up Young’s outing, as left-hander Josh Walker and right-hander Yennier Cano produced scoreless innings before right-hander Andrew Kittredge earned the save. The eighth wasn’t easy, though. Cano allowed two runners to reach and a diving catch from Tyler O’Neill in right field prevented a breakthrough. Cano stranded the pair of runners with a strikeout, and Kittredge worked a 1-2-3 frame.
There was perhaps no greater sight for the Orioles than what Henderson did earlier in the game.
An injured catcher
Catcher Yohel Pozo exited the game in the third inning with left index finger pain after his mitt was hit off his hand by Josh Bell’s swing. It counted as catcher’s interference, but Pozo will deal with what appeared to be a painful incident.
After the game, Albernaz said the X-ray of Pozo’s finger was clean, indicating there was no fracture.
If the Orioles need to place Pozo on the injured list, Silas Ardoin is in Minneapolis on the taxi squad. Samuel Basallo is still a way off from returning from the injured list. He faced coach-pitch batting practice on the field Tuesday for the first time, which marks his third straight day of swinging as he recovers from shoulder inflammation.
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