BALTIMORE—What happened? Corbin Burnes pitched seven solid innings, equaling his season high, and threw 108 pitches, the most this season, in limiting the Boston Red Sox to an unearned run on three hits in a 6-1 Orioles win on Wednesday night.
Gunnar Henderson hit a grand slam, his 18th home run.
The Orioles won for the sixth time in seven games, and head into an offday on Thursday with a 35-19 record.
Burnes threw seven innings in his third start on April 9th at Boston, and not since then.
“It got to the point where I was still executing pitches, and we were in a good spot to go back out there,” Burnes said. “I don’t think there’s any importance to going out there and getting through a certain amount of innings. If I’m still out there and I’m still executing pitches, then I’m going to keep going as long as I can.”
Manager Brandon Hyde was pleased with Burnes’ tenacity.
“He just felt good after six,” Hyde said. “We just checked with him and he felt good to go. I just thought he battled all night. He was just really competitive. His stuff was so good. He’s been pitching a lot of tight games. I feel like we don’t score a ton for him so far. Hopefully, we will going forward.”
What about Henderson’s night? Henderson’s grand slam was the second of his career, impressing Burnes.
“Whenever you get a grand slam and get a four- or five-run lead at that point, I can’t complain,” Burnes said. “When he’s swinging the bat and he’s been swinging the bat well, it makes it easy for any of us to go out there and pitch.
“He’s been great. He’s electric on both sides of the ball. He makes the great plays at shortstop. Obviously, he does pretty well at the plate as well. He runs the bases well. He’s definitely been our top player this year. I think a lot of these guys lean on him when they’re struggling at the plate. He’s able to get some guys some info and help everybody out. What he’s done for us here, it’s huge.”
What happened to the Orioles’ defense? If not for some sloppy Orioles defense, Burnes would have had an even better line.
Leftfielder Colton Cowser’s wild throw on Connor Wong’s single, and Henderson’s muff of Burnes’ pickoff throw to second led to Boston’s only run.
“It was a weird string of events there,” Henderson said. “Corbin had our backs and went out there and put up a really good outing.”
“After escaping that second inning, which was a little bit uncharacteristic of how we’ve been playing defense, only giving up one run there, zeroes the rest of the way, just a great, great performance,” Hyde said.
How does Burnes think the Orioles are doing? “We’re in a great spot,” he said. “There’s still a long way to go. I think we would all agree we’re playing pretty good baseball right now.
“The most important part is to be healthy and playing good baseball when you start October. Right now, it’s great to be winning all these games. You look at the long run of things, you want to be sure you’re ready for September and October.”
How did Urías feel about his night? With Jordan Westburg resting a night after being hit in the hand by a pitch, Ramón Urias had an RBI single for the Orioles’ first run in the second and hit his second home run in the eighth.
“Just trying to be ready every day when the team needs me and today was a great night for me. It was a good feeling,” Urías said.
Urías does his best to stay sharp, which isn’t easy with his reduced playing time.
“It’s difficult because it’s not like you’re seeing pitches every night,” Urías said.
What’s the word? “Every time he’s pitched he’s given us a chance to win.”-Hyde on Burnes’ consistency
What does it mean? With an offday on Thursday, and 29 games in the next 30 days, it was vital that Hyde got a strong start from Burnes.
What’s the stat of the day? 50. Burnes recorded his 50th win and Henderson hit his 50th home run. “It took a while,” Burnes said. “It’s cool. I didn’t even know that,” Henderson said.
What’s going on in the minor leagues? Second baseman Jackson Holliday had two of Triple-A Norfolk’s four hits in the Tides’ 4-2 loss to Gwinnett.
Double-A Bowie starter Seth Johnson allowed one run on five his in four innings and first baseman Samuel Basallo had three hits in the Baysox’s 2-1 loss to Somerset.
Centerfielder Enrique Bradfield Jr. had two hits in High-A Aberdeen’s 9-3 loss to Hudson Valley.
Catcher Aneudis Mordán hit a grand slam in Single-A Delmarva’s 10-8 loss to Carolina.
What’s next? After Thursday’s day off, the Orioles host the Tampa Bay Rays for three games. Albert Suárez (2-0, 1.53) will start for the Orioles on Friday night at 7:05. Tampa Bay hasn’t named its starter.
Call for questions: Each weekday, I answer Orioles questions. Please send yours to: [email protected]