In the true fashion of a “pitcher’s duel”, the Birds of Baltimore shut out the Bronx Bombers in Camden Yards last night(April 29) with a 2-0 win in the series opener led by Gunnar Henderson”s historic 10th home run of the season before May 1.
This was the Orioles’ third shutout this season, which have all occurred in the last eight games.
Grayson Rodriguez and three O’s relievers kept the Yanks off the scoreboard while Henderson belted his leadoff home run in the bottom of the first inning against right hander Clarke Schmidt made him the youngest player in MLB history to hit 10 HRs before May and pulled him alongside Angels’ Mike Trout as the MLB’s home run leaders.
The defending AL Rookie of the Year also became only the third player in O’s history (since 1954) to hit 10-plus homers before May 1, joining Brady Anderson (11 in ‘96) and Frank Robinson (10 in ‘69).
“It’s always a big boost. You’re not really expecting a leadoff homer to start the game, but our guy’s definitely got the ability to,” Baltimore manager Brandon Hyde said. “He’s 22 years old, too. It’s pretty scary how good this guy’s going to be — how good he is already.”
When asked if he knew he’d have so many HRs so early in the season, the 22-year-old replied, “I mean, I’d like to say I know I can do it, but yeah, it’d definitely be a little surprising,” Henderson said. “Definitely feeling good, a little bit.”
The Yankees (19-11) and Orioles (18-10), now tied to lead the American League East, have not faced off as the top two teams in the division in the first month of the season in almost a decade(July 21, 2015).
