PHOENIX — When the Orioles are right, they have the look of a complete team.
The Orioles jumped out to an early lead and stayed in control to cruise to a 5-1 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday. Gunnar Henderson reached base three times, Ryan O’Hearn smacked his first home run of the season and Zach Eflin tossed his third straight quality start to help Baltimore to a mostly clean series-opening victory.
Eflin got an early 1-0 lead to work with when O’Hearn took Diamondbacks starter Zac Gallen deep to right field in the top of the first inning. The Orioles (5-6) pestered the former All-Star with hard contact all night and broke through with a run in the third before stringing together a three-run rally in the fifth, capped off by Ryan Mountcastle’s two-run single.
Arizona’s lone run of the night came on a sacrifice fly by left fielder Lourdes Gurriel in the fourth. Eflin fell into a few jams early as the Diamondbacks jumped all over his curveball, but the right-hander otherwise kept the ball on the ground and worked efficiently to complete six innings on 73 pitches before leaving with shoulder fatigue. Yennier Cano, Gregory Soto and Félix Bautista combined to close out the game.
Baltimore did once again fall victim to some sloppy defense. Cedric Mullins recorded his first fielding error of the season in the fourth, when he booted a single in center field to allow first baseman Josh Naylor to advance to second. Eflin limited the damage to a sacrifice fly, but mishaps in the outfield have become a trend for the Orioles after Heston Kjerstad, Jorge Mateo and Tyler O’Neill all misplayed flyballs over the weekend.
However, Monday’s contest was otherwise a reflection of the brighter side of the Orioles’ Jekyll-and-Hyde start to the season.
Instant analysis
Coming off an uneven first series back off the injured list in Kansas City, Henderson on Monday looked much more like the player who finished fourth in American League Most Valuable Player Award voting last season.
Henderson had a weird weekend. He registered exit velocities over 100 mph on each of his first four batted balls but garnered only one hit among them before going 0-for-8 with six strikeouts to close out the series. It was only a matter of time before he got his timing down and, while one game doesn’t mean he’s all the way back, Henderson showed he’s still very much capable of impacting an offense just about any way a hitter can.
Need power? Henderson barreled up two more 100-plus mph batted balls Monday, only these dropped in for a double and a single. Need speed? He swiped his first two stolen bases of the season. Need to keep a rally going? He drew a walk and scored twice. As Henderson goes, so does the Orioles’ offense.
On deck
Charlie Morton showed more than a few flashes of excellence his last time out when he recorded 10 strikeouts against the Boston Red Sox. He did, however, also allow five runs in as many innings for his second straight disappointing start to begin the year. Morton will look to find some stability Tuesday when he starts opposite the Diamondbacks’ Merrill Kelly.
This article will be updated. Have a news tip? Contact Matt Weyrich at mweyrich@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/ByMattWeyrich and instagram.com/bymattweyrich.