CHICAGO -- With the bases loaded and two outs in the second inning, Gunnar Henderson was at the plate with a chance to break the game open against a wild starting pitcher.
White Sox starter Shane Smith had walked four batters and hit another by the time Henderson walked into the batter’s box, signaling what could be the at-bat the Orioles had been waiting for to grab an early lead and break out of the frustrating stretch that had been the O’s first 10 games.
Foul ball after foul ball, the tension rose, as the 2023 AL Rookie of the Year battled for 12 pitches attempting to put the Orioles on top.
Instead, he struck out on a changeup in the zone -- that key at-bat still eluding the O’s.
But Henderson got his revenge in the eighth when he flipped the game and the Orioles’ road trip on its head.
Back-to-back doubles by Blaze Alexander and Taylor Ward tied the game with one out in the eighth, setting the stage for Henderson to once again deliver in the clutch. This time, he did, crushing a two-run homer which bounced off the top of the right-center-field wall to give the Orioles their first lead of the day in a 4-2 win on Tuesday at The Rate.
Henderson celebrated with a huge smile on his face, sticking out his tongue and holding up two fingers as he rounded first base. After a slow start to the season that was all too similar to 2025, this was the type of swing the O’s had been waiting for to turn things around.
It was Henderson’s second homer off a lefty this road trip after having only three homers off lefties in all of 2025. The 24-year-old, who didn’t hit his fourth deep fly until May 9 last season, now has four in his first 11 games – and second game-winning homer in as many games – as the Orioles won back-to-back contests for the first time this year.
Baltimore entered the series with just six homers this season, which was 28th in baseball, but Henderson’s power surge has been enough in Chicago to back two strong starts, this time by Trevor Rogers. The lefty, who now has three quality starts in as many outings, went six and allowed only two runs before Ryan Helsley earned his second save of the series.