Finding offensive sparks has been a chore for the Baltimore Orioles recently, but shortstop Gunnar Henderson continues to set the standard when things go right.
Henderson has homered in consecutive games, a string he carries into a four-game series that begins Thursday night against the visiting Texas Rangers.
“He’s special. He’s different. He’s incredible,” Orioles designated hitter Ryan O’Hearn said of Henderson. “When he hits homers, it’s kind of what we’ve come to expect.”
Henderson ranks second in the major leagues with 26 home runs. Until going deep against the Cleveland Guardians on Tuesday and Wednesday, he hadn’t smashed long balls in back-to-back games since a four-game power surge from May 17-20.
Texas and Baltimore last met when the Rangers swept the Orioles in a best-of-five American League Division Series last year. The first two games of that series were in Baltimore.
The Orioles won 4-2 against the Cleveland Guardians on Wednesday night to halt a season-high, five-game losing streak. Getting back on the track and avoiding being swept in consecutive series was good for the Orioles’ psyche.
“It’s huge,” center fielder Cedric Mullins said. “Just in the midst of where we’re at right now in the schedule. Some guys are beat up, some guys are tired, but it’s a matter of being able to push through.”
Manager Brandon Hyde said he hopes the victory snaps the Orioles out of a funk that largely was due to inconsistent offensive production.
“It has been kind of a tough road for us a little bit,” Hyde said.
The Rangers have lost eight of their past 12 games after being swept this week on the road against the Milwaukee Brewers. The last of those defeats came Wednesday afternoon, a 6-5 setback in 10 innings.
“We were in all three (games),” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said. “You can look at a lot of things.”
Texas had 10 hits, including back-to-back home runs from Nathaniel Lowe and Jonah Heim, in its latest loss. The Rangers have a .237 team batting average.
“We did swing the bats better, and that’s always a great sign,” Bochy said.
Baltimore is 26-16 in home games. The Rangers have lost six consecutive road games, leaving their mark away from Arlington at 17-24.
“You keep grinding. You have no choice,” Bochy said. “You go to Baltimore, you got to get after it. It’s not going to get any easier.”
Indeed, the Orioles send right-hander Corbin Burnes (8-3, 2.35 ERA) to the mound in the series opener. He is Baltimore’s ace even though his personal five-game winning streak ended Saturday on the road against the Houston Astros. He allowed four runs in seven innings.
Burnes, who is in his first year with the Orioles after six seasons with Milwaukee, has pitched in 183 career major league games — none of them against the Rangers.
Jon Gray (3-3, 3.03) gets the call as Texas’ starting pitcher. The right-hander try to duplicate his latest outing, when he blanked the Kansas City Royals for six innings on Saturday. He rebounded well after getting drilled for nine runs in three-plus innings by the New York Mets on June 17.
Gray is 2-2 with a 2.91 ERA in four career starts against the Orioles.
–Field Level Media
