Orioles complete series sweep of Athletics with 12-1 win behind Gunnar Henderson’s near-cycle, another Kyle Bradish gem – The Denver Post

Gunnar Henderson was too good to hit for the cycle Sunday.

The rookie was a single away from recording the eighth cycle in Orioles history when he came to bat in the eighth inning, but he was hitting the ball too hard for singles. Henderson roped a 103.6 mph double down the right field line, choosing to sprint to second for his fourth extra-base hit of the afternoon rather than hold up at first for the cycle.

Henderson’s near-cycle — a 4-for-5 day with two doubles, a triple and a homer — propelled Baltimore to a 12-1 win over the Athletics and the Orioles’ eighth series sweep of the season. He is the 11th player in Orioles history with four extra-base hits in a game and the first since Melvin Mora in 2008. Only two other Baltimore players — Chris Richard in 2000 and Don Baylor in 1973 — have tallied four extra-base hits with at least one double, triple and home run.

At 22 years, 52 days old, Henderson is the youngest player in franchise history with four-extra base hits in a game. The previous youngest was Cal Ripken Jr. at 23 years, 10 days in 1983.

The dominant performance was the latest for a player who is blossoming into not just the front-runner to win the American League Rookie of the Year Award, but also perhaps the Orioles’ best player. His 3.8 wins above replacement on Baseball Reference entering Sunday — a number that will surely rise after he totaled 11 bases — tops the team.

“What an amazing game by him,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “He’s just 22 years old, and he’s the Rookie of the Year in the American League.”

The four-hit game is the second of Henderson’s nascent career. In early July, he went 4-for-7 with two long balls in a blowout win over the Yankees in New York. He’s the fourth Orioles rookie to total at least 11 bases in a game, joining Ryan Mountcastle in 2021, Nick Markakis in 2006 and Richard in 2000.

Henderson powered an offense that totaled 17 hits. Ryan Mountcastle hit a three-run homer in the fourth with a deep blast to left-center field. Jorge Mateo didn’t need to clear the fence to round the bases with an inside-the-park home run in the second.

Starting pitcher Kyle Bradish maintained his status as the Orioles’ best rotation member — and perhaps one of the Junior Circuit’s top starters — with eight strikeouts in six shutout innings. His 3.03 ERA is tied for the AL lead among qualified starting pitchers.

“It was really an all-around great day,” Henderson said. “I think every [starter] reached base at least once today, and it was really fun offensively and especially watching [Bradish] go out there and throw the way he did.”

Baltimore is 77-47 and three games ahead of the Tampa Bay Rays atop the AL standings. The last time the Orioles were 30 games over .500 was in 2014 — the last time the club won the AL East.

In three games against the MLB-worst Athletics (34-90), the Orioles tallied 42 hits and 28 runs. They return to Baltimore going 6-3 record on their nine-game West Coast trip.

“A 6-3 road trip is really impressive, and it shows the grit and the grind of our guys and how much they fought,” Hyde said. “It’s not easy to come on the West Coast. Everybody’s tired today, everybody’s tired the last couple days. The travel gets to you, you’re in different time zone, the whole thing. I’ve seen it work the other way.

“I’m really proud of how our guys fought all nine of these games.”

Kyle in cruise control

Bradish got two extra days rest since his start last Sunday, and it looked like it. The 26-year-old right-hander struck out the side in the first and two more in both the second and third. The only two hits Bradish allowed were singles in the fourth and sixth. He hit and walked the first two batters of the fifth, but induced a double play to escape the threat.

Bradish produced 16 whiffs on 44 swings, including 11 on his slider. While Baltimore’s bats totaled 15 balls in play harder than 100 mph — three of which off Henderson’s bat — Oakland only managed four such exit velocities off Bradish.

“I thought his fastball life was really good early,” Hyde said. “It’s cutting, he’s got a sinker, his breaking ball’s really sharp. It’s really tough to hit when the ball’s moving all over the place with that sort of velocity and break.

“He’s definitely looking like someone who’s got a 3.00 ERA or below, which is a top-of-the-rotation type of guy.”

After a slow start to the season, Bradish has been dominant the past three months. In 15 starts since May 28, he has a 2.49 ERA and 0.985 WHIP with 90 strikeouts in 90 1/3 innings. In that stretch, he’s allowed three or fewer runs 14 times, two or fewer 11 times, one or fewer seven times and zero four times.

“Just doing me,” Bradish said on his recent success. “I know I’m capable of doing this every time out. Just locating the ball. I know I have good stuff, just going out there putting up good numbers, having a good offense behind me. I mean, the whole team’s playing good ball right now.”

Bradish (8-6) had a lead from the moment he took the mound after Adley Rutschman scored on Ramón Urías’ groundout off Athletics starter JP Sears. Mateo then put the Orioles up 2-0 after his ball off the left-center field wall ricocheted away from two Oakland outfielders, allowing the speedster to round the bases. The inside-the-park home run is the 25th in Orioles history and the first since Trey Mancini’s on Mo Gaba Day last July.

“I honestly thought they were going to catch the ball out there,” Mateo said through team interpreter Brandon Quinones. “Once he got close, I was like, ‘Man, no way.’ But once I saw the ball hit the dirt, then I really started to take off.”

The home run was Mateo’s first since April 30 when he was the Orioles’ best hitter in the opening month. Before Sunday, the shortstop had hit .153 with a .406 OPS since his previous long ball.

“The whole dugout was yelling to send him, send him,” Hyde said. “He is so fun to watch run. Great to see him — he’s had his struggles — contribute the way he did today, I’m really happy for him.”

Austin Hays hit an RBI single in the third for his fifth hit of the weekend, and Mountcastle’s 439-foot homer — his 17th of the season — gave the Orioles a 7-0 lead. Mountcastle went 3-for-5 to maintain his hot streak since he returned from the injured list in early July after a bout with vertigo. In his past 122 plate appearances, the first baseman is slashing .383/.443/.617 — good for a 1.059 OPS.

Henderson then hit a 392-foot shot in the seventh to tie the team lead with 21. Jordan Westburg hit an RBI single later in the inning, and Rutschman singled home Mateo in the eighth before Henderson’s RBI double. Urías then drove in the final run with a single to score Henderson.

The only run the Orioles allowed was a solo homer to Brent Rooker off left-hander Nick Vespi in the seventh. Vespi then tossed a scoreless eighth, and former Oakland pitcher Shintaro Fujinami didn’t surrender a run in the ninth.

Around the horn

• Outfielder Anthony Santander didn’t play Sunday for the second straight game after being pulled from Friday’s win with lower back soreness. The slugger said before the matinee that his back is “OK” but that treatment on it the past two days hasn’t made it “feel any better.” He’s hoping to return to the lineup Tuesday after the day off Monday. The soreness is something he’s dealt with since the beginning of the season. “It’s gone away, it’s come back. It hit me really bad in San Diego,” Santander said.
• Reliever Danny Coulombe threw a bullpen session at full effort Saturday and said he’s close to being able to return to the Orioles’ bullpen. Coulombe, Baltimore’s best left-handed reliever, expects to pitch once on an upcoming minor league rehabilitation assignment before being reinstated. “I feel really good and feel like I’m ready to contribute,” he said.
• John Means, another recovering left-hander, threw his best outing of his rehab assignment Sunday for Double-A Bowie. After allowing a leadoff home run, the 30-year-old didn’t allow a run over his four innings, striking out four without a walk. Means, who is recovering from Tommy John elbow reconstruction surgery he underwent in April 2022, progressed to 57 pitches. Means will likely have two more starts on his rehab assignment before it ends and he would rejoin the Orioles — either as a reliever or a starter.
• Reliever Austin Voth allowed two runs in two-thirds of an inning Sunday with Triple-A Norfolk. The right-hander’s rehab assignment ends this weekend, and the Orioles will either have to add him back to their 26-man roster or designate him for assignment.
• Right-hander Mychal Givens was officially released by the Orioles on Sunday. The veteran reliever pitched just four ineffective innings this season after rejoining the club on a $5 million contract in the offseason.

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