Gunnar Henderson keeps hitting as O's win streak reaches five in a row

Well he doesn't have a four-hit game yet - that is still to come for Orioles rookie Gunnar Henderson. But he can cross grand slam off the list now.

He connected on his first career slam to center field in the third inning last night as the Orioles rocked Toronto starter Chris Bassitt for eight runs and beat the Blue Jays 11-6. 

The Orioles, now 42-24 and four games behind Tampa Bay which lost at Oakland, are 4-0 this year against Toronto scoring six, six, eight and 11 runs in those games. Since losing their first two AL East series of the year the Orioles have won their past four, now can get a fifth and are 10-3 in their past 13 AL East games.

Toronto (37-31) had won eight of 11 heading into this series. But the Blue Jays are now just 2-14 in their last 16 division games. 

As Henderson has seen his bat heat up in recent weeks, he believes that being more aggressive early in counts has been a plus for him. He is not waiting for the perfect pitch if he gets one he feels he can drive. He also said getting more opposite-field hits is big for him. His huge homer in the recent Milwaukee series was hit down the left-field line.

“Yeah, I feel like my bread and butter is opposite field and I have learned how to pull the ball. Just been very helpful to get back to my bread butter and if they come in I can turn on it and when they go back over the heart of the plate I can do a lot of damage," Henderson said yesterday when he talked with reporters about being the latest American League Player of the Week.

His 462-foot homer Sunday one-hopped the Warehouse and maybe there will be a future day when he can reach the building on the fly?

“Hopefully when I get my man strength in a few more years that will be in play,” he said.

During his early year struggles, where he was batting .174 with a .643 OPS on May 8, Henderson, still just 21, had to stay strong mentally and remain confident.

“Feel like just the support (he got was huge), from both people back home and even on this team. They always supported me and trusted me and I’m very thankful for the Orioles staff just letting me get through it up here and have that experience under my belt for the rest of my career," he said.

Now Henderson and the O's have their designs on another AL East series win and they are now 12-7 in 19 division games.

“Years past we played a lot of AL East teams and less out of the division. Now it puts more weight on these games as you don’t get to see each other too often. Just need to go in there and take care of business. Feel like we have done that all year, play our game and the results will come," he said.

Going into Monday’s game, all 19 of Henderson’s extra-base hits and 20 of his 21 RBIs had come against right-handed pitching. His OPS was .888 versus right-handers. But he was just 8-for-41 against lefties, batting .195/.353/.195/.548.

The average and production are still to come against lefties. His OPS was .448 against southpaws in 2022. Henderson’s recent hot stretch tells him, he said, that more hits are sure to come soon against left-handed pitchers.

“Just the reps (will be helpful there). In the minor leagues, you run into a few lefty starters. Mainly you get just a few at-bats against a lefty maybe from the ‘pen. Up here, it is definitely different seeing lefties that are here for a reason. And definitely been facing the hardest lefties in the game and that is tough. But in a few recent games I’ve started to hit the ball pretty well off of them and I know it will come around just getting the reps and seeing them.”

Henderson now has four straight multi-hit games, going 11-for-18 with eight RBIs in those games. He has homered in three straight games, the first O's rookie to do that since Ryan Mountcastle June 2-5, 2021. He is also the first Baltimore rookie with a grand slam since Mountcastle on May 22, 2021 versus Washington. He is the 17th rookie in team history with a slam.

Over his past 16 games, Henderson is 20-for-53, batting .377/.421/.774/1.195 with three doubles, six homers and 17 RBIs.

Among the top OPS players with O's hitters with enough at-bats to qualify for league leaders, Austin Hays leads the club at .838 with Cedric Mullins next at .835 and Henderson is now third at .830.