Burnes and Henderson shine as Orioles earn much-needed 4-2 win over Tigers

The two All-Stars led Baltimore to the victory with seven shutout innings and a decisive two-run homer.

The Orioles stars showed up to jumpstart their stretch run Saturday, as Corbin Burnes and Gunnar Henderson propelled Baltimore a 4-2 in Detroit.

After nearly being no-hit in a 1-0 loss Friday, it felt like the Orioles had reached the low point of this season. Baltimore entered Saturday’s contest three games behind the Yankees for the division lead—the farthest back the O’s have been since June 2nd. The offensive struggles had become so bad that it felt like the Orioles were struggling to hang onto a playoff spot, rather than compete for their second-straight division title.

And then Corbin Burnes took the mound in Detroit. The Orioles ace delivered his best start of the season as he mowed down the Tigers lineup. The broadcast noted early on how Burnes has tinkered with the grips on his cutter and slider to give them more movement. That tinkering seemed to all come together in Detroit from the first pitch. Burnes K’d the first batter he faced on a cutter below the zone and then erased his first hit allowed on a double play ball to second.

That was the last hit the Tigers would get for a while as Burnes began to really settle into his dominant outing. He attacked the Tigers low in the 2nd—forcing a Riley Green groundout on a cutter at the knees, a weak tapper from Wenceel Perez on a low changeup and a Spencer Torkelson fly on another low cutter.

The Tigers’ best opportunity against Burnes came in the 3rd, as he walked the leadoff batter and then fell behind 3-2 on Trey Sweeney. The Orioles ace would punch out Sweeny looking on another low cutter before getting a pair of groundouts to third—getting Jake Rogers to roll over a cutter away and getting Parker Meadows to bounce out on a changeup.

Those three outs in the 3rd started a streak of 12 batters set down by the All-Star starter. He’d get another two groundouts to start out the 4th, before making Greene look silly on a perfectly executed curveball in the dirt.

The curveball was a big weapon for Burnes against the Tigers, as he seemed to have the best feel for the breaking ball he’s shown all season. He’d pick up two more Ks in the 5th, punching out former No.1 pick Torkelson on a slider away, before going back to the curveball against Jace Jung.

Burnes made it three straight Ks with a punch out of Sweeney to lead off the 6th. While Rogers and Meadows didn’t follow that up with even more strikeouts, they looked equally as hapless in popping out in foul territory and bouncing out to first. The Tigers would get their second hit of the game to lead off the 7th, as Colt Keith picked up his second bloop single to left field. That hit didn’t upset Burnes’ dominant ways, as he’d get Kerry Carpenter on a lazy fly to center, get Greene to ground out to second. The ace would end his evening in perfect fashion—striking out Perez looking on a cutter away.

Offensively, the Orioles were certainly better than they were on Friday, but it was still and up-and-down affair. They opened the game with two straight walks and looked to put their offensive woes behind them in the 1st inning. Instead, Anthony Santander grounded into a 3-6-1 double play and Adley Rutschman struck out looking to strand Gunnar Henderson at third.

That twin-killing off the bat of Tony Taters started a frustrating trend for Baltimore. The Orioles—who have been the best team all season at avoiding the double play ball—grounded into a season-high four double plays against Detroit Saturday. Given their recent offensive woes, the double play seemed like it’d be the latest thing weighing down this Orioles offense. Instead, they overcame it thanks to some Gunnar Henderson magic.

Henderson would get the O’s on the board first with a two-out rally in the 3rd. The All-Star SS doubled off the base of the right field wall to move into scoring position for the second time. Cedric Mullins then dropped a single into shallow CF and Gunnar beat the throw to the plate to give Baltimore a 1-0 lead.

The O’s and Tigers remain separated by that single run until the 7th inning. The late-inning rally was started by the bottom of the lineup, with Emmanuel Rivera reaching via HBP. Livan Soto then doubled into the right field corner to put two runners in scoring position. James McCann would double the O’s lead with a sac fly to LF—with Rivera tagging up late but beating an offline throw home. However, it was Henderson who provided the first offensive fireworks in what seemed like forever. The Orioles SS added to his home run record, turning on a hanging breaking ball from Kenta Maeda and sending a laser over the right field fence.

After going up 4-0, it felt like the game was in the bag for the O’s. Seranthony Dominguez felt like testing that theory in the 9th, as the closer charted a bumpy path to the final out. Detroit finally got on the board when Meadows led off the bottom of the 9th with a solo HR to right center. Keith would follow that up with a single as the Tigers looked to tee off on the O’s closer.

The flame-throwing reliever got two flyouts to get the Orioles one out away from victory. Baltimore had the third out via a strikeout from Pérez, only for the third strike to skip past McCann and allow Pérez to reach. Spencer Torkelson then poked a single into right field to score Keith and bring the winning run to the plate. AJ Hinch brought in Zach McKinstry to pinch hit and it looked like Brandon Hyde might turn to Gregory Soto for the final out. Instead, the manager stuck with Dominguez, who delivered a ground out to first to end the game.

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Burnes finished with a line of 7 IP, 0 ER and 7 Ks—the second time in two career starts he’s gone seven scoreless innings at Comerica Park. It’s all the first time in his Orioles career that the ace didn’t allow any runs. With the Yankees’ loss to Boston, the Orioles cut their division lead to two games. The Orioles also drop their magic number to clinch a playoff spot down to six.