Gunnar Henderson went 3-for-5 with a three-run home run and two runs Sunday to lead the Baltimore Orioles to an 11-3 victory and a three-game sweep of the visiting Kansas City Royals.
Ramon Urias went 4-for-5 with two doubles, two RBIs and two runs, while Ryan O’Hearn went 3-for-3 with a solo homer and four runs.
Josh Lester went 2-for-4 with two RBIs and Aaron Hicks went 2-for-4 with two runs for Baltimore, which has won four straight games.
Kyle Gibson (8-3) overcame a shaky start to pick up the win after allowing three runs on seven hits with four strikeouts and no walks over 6 1/3 innings before being relieved by Keegan Akin.
Salvador Perez went 2-for-4 with a two-run homer, a double and two runs for the Royals, who have dropped nine of their past 10 games, including six straight.
After the Royals took a 1-0 first-inning edge on Bobby Witt Jr.’s RBI double, Baltimore took the lead in the bottom of the inning against Carlos Hernandez, a reliever making just his fourth start of the season.
Henderson led off with a double before moving to third on Anthony Santander’s groundout and crossing the plate on Austin Hays’ sacrifice fly to right. After O’Hearn walked and advanced to third on Hicks’ double to right, Urias’ double to center cleared the bases for a 3-1 lead.
Hernandez went one inning, with Mike Mayers relieving him to open the second. Kansas City tied the game 3-3 in the third on Perez’s two-run homer.
The Orioles took the lead for good in the bottom of the inning. After they loaded the bases with no outs, Lester’s one-out single to center scored Hicks and O’Hearn, with James McCann following with a sacrifice fly that scored Urias for a 6-3 advantage.
The Orioles pushed their lead to 7-3 in the fourth on Hicks’ two-out double that scored O’Hearn.
Mayers (1-2) was tagged with the loss after allowing four runs on seven hits with a strikeout and three walks in five innings.
Henderson blasted a 462-foot, three-run homer off reliever Jackson Kowar over the right-field wall and onto Eutaw Street for a 10-3 lead in the seventh before O’Hearn hit a solo homer in the eighth.
–Field Level Media
