NEW YORK — The Orioles’ postseason odds may have taken a hit over the weekend in Toronto, but they’re not ready to give up on their 2026 season. Gunnar Henderson helped prove that on Monday night.
Henderson hit a go-ahead solo home run in the eighth inning at Citi Field to lift the O’s to a series-opening 2-1 win over the Mets. It was the 23rd home run of the season for the Baltimore shortstop, but his first since a two-homer game vs. the A’s on Aug. 30 in West Sacramento.
It’s been a tough year for Henderson, who is hitting .223 with a .710 OPS in 149 games. But there have still been moments when the 25-year-old looks like the player who became one of the best in MLB not long after arriving in the big leagues in 2022.
This was one of them. With the game tied at 1 and two outs in the top of the eighth, Henderson pounced on a 1-0 slider from right-hander Dedniel Núñez and sent it a Statcast-projected 397 feet over the right-center-field wall.
“I feel like I’ve been swinging at a lot of the right pitches, and seeing them well. So I feel like if I do that enough, good things will happen,” Henderson said. “Glad I came through then.”
Henderson also snapped a career-long 12-game RBI drought, as he also hadn’t driven in a run since plating five in that Aug. 30 game against the A’s. However, he has at least one hit in eight of his past 10 games, as he aims to finish strong in a difficult season.
“He’s handled it really well, especially this last month or so,” assistant hitting coach Brady North said. “I think he’s kind of — I don’t want to say surrendered, but he’s like, ‘OK, this is where I’m at, this is what the season is going to look like. I’m going to get the most out of this last month.’ I think that’s why we’ve seen him work really well.”
There’s still never any doubt inside Baltimore’s dugout that Henderson isn’t capable of coming through in big spots, as he did Monday night.
“He’s a stud,” right-hander Brandon Young said. “He’s one of our guys. We love him, and he’s a quiet leader on this team and he backs it up with stuff like that. We have full confidence in him.”
The Orioles’ first run came on an RBI double by Heston Kjerstad in the second. Their pitching staff, meanwhile, mostly shut down the Mets’ offense, as right-hander Brandon Young tossed five innings of one-run ball and Josh Walker, Yennier Cano, Grant Wolfram and Rico Garcia combined for four frames of scoreless relief.
Young issued a career-high-tying five walks, but he still navigated the outing well. The 28-year-old stranded eight New York baserunners during the career-high 106-pitch start, with the only run he allowed coming on A.J. Ewing’s home run in the fourth.
“I was battling myself out there all night,” Young said. “I had good feel for the two-seam [fastball] and the split. Some of my other pitches just weren’t there. Body feels good, but just was kind of not synced up totally with every pitch. So yeah, five walks, not great, but to just give up one run was big.”
The game marked the return of Pete Alonso to Citi Field, which was his home ballpark while playing for the Mets over his first seven big league seasons. The 31-year-old first baseman, who signed a five-year, $155 million deal with the O’s last December, went 0-for-3 with a walk.
Baltimore (73-78) won for only the fourth time in 13 games, as it previously dropped two of three to the Blue Jays. The O’s gained ground in the American League Wild Card standings, moving to three games back of the Guardians (76-75) for the third spot with 11 still to play. The Blue Jays (75-76) and Rangers (74-76) are between the two teams.
“We’re three games out of a playoff spot, so it’s exciting baseball,” Alonso said. “Hopefully, we can keep winning games and get a chance to play in October.”