Henderson homers in fourth consecutive game, but Orioles fall 6-3 in St. Louis

Gunnar Henderson hit a home run in his fourth consecutive game, but the Orioles failed to overcome an early deficit.

Gunnar Henderson continued to wow with his fourth home run in as many days, but the Orioles failed to overcome an early deficit. Henderson added multiple impressive plays at short, but Dean Kremer struggled in the 6-3 loss against St. Louis.

Kremer allowed the first two batters to reach before working his way out of a jam in the first. Unfortunately, he failed to replicate the escape act in the second.

Kremer issued a one-out walk to Nolan Gorman but picked up the second out on a line drive to second base. Kremer neglected to hold Gorman at first with two down, and Gorman easily stole second without a throw. Michael Saini followed with a single to center and the Cardinals had their first run of the game.

Kremer bounced back with a clean third, but things really fell apart in the fourth. The righty allowed a pair of singles to put runners on the corners with nobody out. Kremer managed to strikeout Gorman, but Winn plated the second run with a double to left.

Siani stepped in with two on and took a first pitch curveball for a strike. He chased a high fastball for strike two, and then watched a pitch that should have been called strike three regardless of who was behind the plate. Unfortunately, Laz Diaz straight up missed this one. Siani took ball two before breaking the game open with a three-run homer to right field.

Umpires miss balls and strikes all the time, but this one felt particularly egregious. Kremer struggled to put hitters away with only two strikeouts over four innings, but Diaz let him down on multiple occasions. See for yourself.

While Kremer labored, Cardinals starter Sonny Gray barely broke a sweat. Gray held a five-run lead before the Orioles managed a single hit. It took some hijinx for Baltimore to finally break through in the sixth.

Cedric Mullins popped a shallow fly that left fielder Brendan Donovan never called. Winn eventually made a play on the ball from shortstop but failed to corral it. The ball hit the glove before falling to the ground, so Gray kept his no-hit bid entact.

Jorge Mateo followed and hit what should have been a double-play ball even with his speed, but Winn booted it. The pair of errors by the shortstop allowed two runners on base for Gunnar Henderson.

Henderson carried a three-game homer streak into St. Louis, and the 22-year-old picked a fabulous time to keep it alive. Henderson launched a ball to deep center, and Baltimore’s first hit of the game came via a three-run home run.

Ryan O’Hearn and Jordan Westburg both singled to bring the go-ahead run to the plate. Anthony Santander flew out for the second out, and a pinch-hitting Ryan Mountcastle failed to deliver the second big blow of the evening.

Albert Suárez delivered a clean fifth and Ciónel Pérez kept the Birds in the game with a zero in the sixth. Brandon Hyde sent Pérez back to the mound in the seventh, and the lefty finally ran into some trouble.

Pérez walked Paul Goldschmidt to start the frame, and Alec Burleson added a one-out single. Goldschmidt and Burleson executed a double steal to place two runners in scoring position, and Pérez walked Iván Herrera to create a force at every base.

Pérez struck out Gorman with four consecutive breaking balls and nearly escaped the inning without issue. Pérez jammed Winn with a 1-2 slider, but the ball found the perfect place between first, second and the mound. St. Louis tacked on its sixth run of the game, but the Cardinals never needed the insurance.

Keegan Akin recorded the final four outs, but the Orioles never threatened.

Sonny Gray moved to 6-2 on the season for a team still five games under .500. There’s no shame in struggling against Gray, but the deep ball in the fifth put the game out of reach.

The Orioles will look to bounce back with Kyle Bradish on the mound against veteran Lance Lynn.