RESOLVING THE LEDGER
This is one outlet's own report from Yahoo Sports — the article as it was filed. Other outlets are covering the same event; open the full story to compare every source side by side.
See the full story · 1 sources
MINNEAPOLIS — The Baltimore Orioles have continued to stick with Gunnar Henderson at the top of their lineup despite his season-long slump only getting worse over the past month.
It paid off Tuesday.
Henderson entered their game against the Minnesota Twins hitless in his last 16 at-bats and carrying a .675 OPS that ranked 127th among the 142 qualified players across MLB. Yet there he was in the leadoff spot once again, thrust front and center atop an Orioles lineup whose overall struggles this season have mirrored that of their star shortstop.
This time, he took advantage. Henderson singled off Twins starter Bailey Ober’s second pitch of the game and went on to go 3 for 5, finishing a triple short of the cycle. His two-run home run in the second inning was one of three the Orioles launched in their 5-2 win. It marked the first multi-hit game for Henderson since July 20 and served as a reminder of what kind of player the 25-year-old can be when he’s going right.
Baltimore (58-62) homered off Ober in each of the first three frames. Pete Alonso took him deep a few pitches after Henderson’s first-inning single for his 26th of the season, and Christian Encarnacion-Strand launched a 460-foot moonshot to straightaway center field in the third. Encarnacion-Strand’s blast was the longest by an Oriole since Jordan Westburg went 461 feet against the Atlanta Braves on July 5, 2025.
Henderson, Alonso and Encarnacion-Strand each recorded three hits, combining to go 9 for 13 with 19 total bases and all five of the Orioles’ RBIs on the night.
Alonso did run into two outs on the base paths. In the second, he was tagged out at third base on a Jackson Holliday groundout while trying to catch the Twins not covering the bag. Alonso was then thrown out at home in the seventh when third base coach Buck Britton sent him from second on a two-out single by Tyler O’Neill.
Ober settled in after the third, and the Twins’ bullpen behind him didn’t let the Orioles pull away, but Brandon Young delivered a quality start to earn his team-leading ninth win of the year. Young gutted his way through multiple jams and allowed two runs (one earned) on six hits and three walks with four strikeouts, keeping the start from unraveling by holding Minnesota to 1 for 9 with runners in scoring position.
One of the Twins’ runs off Young was unearned because catcher Yohel Pozo was charged with catcher’s interference when designated hitter Josh Bell hit his mitt with a swing in the second. Pozo was injured on the play, and he was forced to leave the game, being replaced by Carlos Narváez. The Orioles later diagnosed the injury as left index finger pain.
Josh Walker pitched a 1-2-3 seventh and Albernaz turned to Yennier Cano for the eighth. The right-hander put two on with one out, but he escaped by inducing a ground ball by Roden and striking out shortstop Kaelen Culpepper to end the inning.
Andrew Kittredge then got the ball for the ninth and secured the save without any trouble. His six saves trail only injured closer Ryan Helsley (eight) for the most on the team this season.
____
AIPROPX is an independent multi-source news index — we track, compare, and connect coverage from across the web into one place you won't find anywhere else.