– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
Follow @Koiki_Sport Follow @ALOST_Official
BALTIMORE — The one tool most talked about when discussions center around five-tool prospect Gunnar Henderson is his prodigious hitting talent, which eventually came to the fore tonight in the Baltimore Orioles’ latest victory. But Henderson’s hitting heroics might have been for naught if it were not for his fielding talents that he displayed earlier to keep the Orioles in the contest.
Henderson cracked a solo home run on the first pitch in the bottom of the seventh inning, the first run in a two-run eighth inning rally for the Orioles in a 6-5 victory over the Miami Marlins on Saturday evening. Anthony Santander and Jorge Mateo each drove in two runs as Baltimore came back from an early 4-0 deficit to win its seventh consecutive contest.
While the promotion of catcher and 2023 All-Star Adley Rutschman garnered the most headlines of the crop of highly-touted prospects the Orioles were soon to bring to the Majors over the past year, Henderson’s arrival brought as much hope because of his skill set: a power-hitting infielder with a slick glove and versatility to play all the positions across the diamond. At third base tonight, Henderson made a couple of stellar defensive plays by barehanding a couple of slow ground balls before throwing out runners at first, a la Orioles legend and Baseball Hall of Famer Brooks Robinson. One of those plays came on a roller off the bat of Nick Fortes in the fifth inning and with the Marlins up 5-3, with Hederson’s two-out gem saving a run as Jean Segura was on third at the time.
Down 4-0 after a four-run second inning by the Marlins, Baltimore once again chipped away at the lead in what has become one of its hallmarks this season: the comeback victory. The Orioles immediately responded with three runs in the bottom of the frame, with Cedric Mullins’ RBI single getting Baltimore on the board after Ryan Mountcastle doubled and Aaron Hicks walked to start the inning. With two outs, Mateo lined a triple into center that centerfielder Dane Myers misplayed as the ball sailed over his leaping effort.
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Saturday evening’s contest, with all photos taken by DC-area photographer Elliott Brown. After clicking on the first photo to enlarge the picture, make sure to press the left and right arrow buttons to scroll through the rest of the pictures. There are 38 pictures in total.
Follow @Koiki_Sport Follow @ALOST_Official
