ST. LOUIS — The Orioles avoided being on the wrong side of history thanks to Gunnar Henderson’s league-leading 16th home run of the season to break up Sonny Gray’s no-hit bid in the sixth inning but couldn’t erase an early five-run deficit as they fell to the St. Louis Cardinals, 6-3, on Monday night.
Henderson homered in his fourth consecutive game, the longest streak by an Oriole since DJ Stewart did the same Sept. 5-9, 2020. The shortstop also became the fifth player in MLB history 22 years old or younger to rack up 16 home runs in his first 45 games and the first since Bryce Harper in 2015 during his Most Valuable Player season.
“He’s just staying on the ball so well and he’s taking good at-bats,” manager Brandon Hyde said after the game. “But yeah, to be able to hit balls to all fields and cover the way he does, it’s impressive.”
The blast was a welcome sight for the Orioles (29-16), who were held hitless by Gray over the first five innings. Last year’s American League Cy Young Award runner-up allowed just three balls in play across those frames, threatening to be the first pitcher to throw a no-hitter against the Orioles since the Seattle Mariners’ Hisashi Iwakuma on Aug. 12, 2015.
However, Cardinals shortstop Masyn Winn recorded errors on back-to-back plays to open the fifth inning, missing a running catch in shallow left field on a pop up by Cedric Mullins and booting a sharply hit Jorge Mateo ground ball on plays that were both borderline scoring decisions. Henderson then brought them both home with a 417-foot shot to center field off a sweeper on the outer half of the plate. It was the first home run Gray had allowed off that pitch since 2022 and the first extra-base hit against it this season.
“I don’t even remember seeing the pitch,” Henderson said. “He threw me one, I think, the pitch before, maybe two pitches before, and I think I saw it pretty well. So, I tried to think of a good height to see it at and I felt like that was the only position I could’ve saw it in to see it as a strike.”
The Orioles had the chance to tack on more runs in the sixth when Ryan O’Hearn and Jordan Westburg recorded the club’s second and third hits with consecutive singles. Cardinals manager pulled Gray with two outs in the frame to bring in the left-handed JoJo Romero to face Colton Cowser. Hyde responded with a move of his own, pinch hitting Ryan Mountcastle for Cowser to get the platoon advantage. But Mountcastle couldn’t convert on the opportunity, grounding out to third base.
“It’s a lefty that is having a great year and Mounty has hit two balls on the nose tonight at over 100 [mph],” Hyde said of his decision-making. “Yeah, [Nolan] Arenado just makes a great play but we’re down two there. For me, that’s our shot to try to get back in the ballgame or take the lead or do some damage there. When I have Mount available on the bench, that’s a good spot for him.”
Baltimore’s offense stalled from there and the Cardinals tacked on another insurance run off Orioles reliever Cionel Pérez to secure the victory.
St. Louis jumped out to a 5-0 lead. Dean Kremer struggled to put hitters away and grinded through the first three innings with one run allowed before falling apart in the fourth.
After allowing back-to-back singles to open the frame, Kremer gave up a one-out RBI double to Winn before a three-run homer by No. 9 hitter Michael Siani broke the game open. He got ahead of Siani 0-2 but a missed strike three call by home plate umpire Laz Díaz allowed the at-bat to continue and the center fielder took advantage. Sinai, a waiver claim of the Cardinals in September, entered the game with two RBIs and zero home runs in 58 career games.
“I didn’t know it was a missed call until after but not here to complain,” Kremer said. “Just didn’t execute after that and showed them one too many fastballs and he timed up that next one.”
Kremer got through the frame but that was it for the right-hander, who allowed his most runs in a start since giving up eight runs (six earned) against the Milwaukee Brewers on April 13. It also ended a streak of 21 consecutive games of the Orioles’ starting pitchers allowing four runs or fewer. A rainout, a day off and the return of Grayson Rodriguez last week forced Kremer to go eight days between starts, during which Kremer dealt with a blister on his throwing hand.
“It’s just on and off kind of,” Kremer said. “It’s something that we’re going to work through no matter what. It’ll take care of itself.”
Albert Suárez entered the game for Kremer in the fifth and worked around a pair of walks for a scoreless inning. Suárez, who began the year as a starter, had thrown multiple innings in three of his five relief appearances this season but Hyde opted to use Pérez in that role instead. The left-hander threw a clean sixth inning but ran into trouble in the seventh; Hyde pulled him after allowing an RBI infield single to Winn that loaded the bases. Keegan Akin then came in to keep the score where it was through the ninth.
The running game was a consistent issue for the Orioles regardless of who was on the mound. The Cardinals stole four bases in the game, the third time this season Baltimore has allowed a team to steal that many against them in a contest. Rutschman, who started behind the plate, has thrown out only 20.7% of base runners this season.
St. Louis, which is an MLB-best 14-5 against American League East teams since the start of last season, including 4-1 against the Orioles, will send Lance Lynn to the mound Tuesday opposite Baltimore’s Kyle Bradish for the second of three between the two teams. The Orioles right-hander has a 2.63 ERA through three starts to begin the year but has yet to make it past the fifth inning.
Orioles at Cardinals
Tuesday, 7:35 p.m.
TV: MASN2
Radio: 97.9 FM, 101.5 FM, 1090 AM
