Both Pete Alonso and Francisco Lindor entered tonight’s game with 299 career home runs, and both players left the game still in pursuit of the milestone number. Alonso received a hero’s welcome in his return to New York, but it was Gunnar Henderson that stole the show in the low-scoring affair.
Henderson launched a go-ahead home run in the top of the eighth to propel Baltimore to a 2-1 victory over the Mets at Citi Field.
Henderson stepped in to face Dedniel Núñez with two out and nobody on base. The
shortstop took a pitch inside before getting a slider over the heart of the plate. Henderson launched his 23rd home run over the season to right-center field, and the Orioles bullpen closed out the game without any drama.
The blast marked some rare offense for either team. Both starters limited their opponent to only one run, but New York’s Jonah Tong was the more efficient of the two. Brandon Young needed a career-high 106 pitches to complete five frames. Young worked his way into several jams with five hits allowed and five free passes, but he kept finding ways to escape innings unscathed.
Young walked the first batter he faced before generating an inning-ending double play ball from Bo Bichette. He retired Carson Benge and Jared Young to start the second before loading the bases with a single and a pair of walks. Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez entered the game with brutal numbers with the bases loaded, and Young struck him out on four pitches to end the threat.
Young allowed singles to Benge and Juan Soto but still managed to post a zero in the third. Surprisingly, his only blemish came without any traffic on the bases. Young fell behind in the count to A.J. Ewing before leaving a curveball slightly above the knees. The rookie skied the ball over the right-field fence to even the score at one in the fourth.
Baltimore’s leader in wins needed to pitch at least five innings to have a chance at one tonight, but his pitch count climbed after walks to Soto and Jared Young. Marcus Semien stepped in with Young set to hit the century mark, and it became clear that Semien would be the last batter Young faced regardless of the result. The veteran infielder worked the count full before grounding out to end the inning.
The Orioles, on the other hand, struggled to solve Tong. The Birds needed a little help to pick up their only run against the 23-year-old. Jackson Holliday managed a one-out single in the second, and Heston Kjerstad laced a hard hit grounder toward first base. Brett Baty may have fielded the ball cleanly if it hadn’t perfectly hit the lip between the grass and the dirt. The ball took an awkward bounce as it skipped by Baty and into right field. Holliday raced home to score the first run of the game, and Kjerstad made his way to second with an RBI double.
That was it for the Birds against Tong. The baby-faced starter held Baltimore to only four hits and one walk over six innings. He struck out six.
Tong also deserved credit for navigating a challenging situation with Pete Alonso. The Mets crowd gave their former first baseman an extremely warm welcome and appeared to be rooting for the Polar Bear every time he stepped to the plate. The crowd awed as Alonso clobbered a ball to the left of the foul pole in his second at bat, but Tong avoided the type of fate that Young experienced in Adley Rutschman’s return to Baltimore. Alonso finished 0-for-3 with a walk.
Fortunately, Baltimore’s bullpen did its part. Josh Walker delivered a clean sixth and returned to record the first two outs of the seventh. Yennier Cano entered to get the third out of the inning, and Grant Wolfram worked around a leadoff single in the eighth.
The Henderson blast put Baltimore in a save situation, and Craig Albernaz turned to Rico Garcia. Garcia generated a harmless fly ball from Baty, a grounder from Alvarez, and a can of corn from Lindor to secure a 2-1 win for the Birds.
The win brought the Orioles to 73-78 on the season. The Guardians fell to 76-75 with a loss to Chicago this evening. Toronto and Texas remain in between the two teams in the wild card standings.
Gunnar Henderson delivered the go-ahead blast, but Josh Walker and Rico Garcia shined in relief. Make your pick for the Most Birdland Player of the Game in the comments below.
