BALTIMORE (AP) — Gunnar Henderson led off the first inning with a homer to become the youngest player in major league history with 10 before May 1 and the Baltimore Orioles defeated the New York Yankees 2-0 on Monday night in the opener of a four-game series.
Grayson Rodriguez threw 5 2/3 shutout innings for Baltimore, which won the first meeting of the season between the top two teams in the AL East.
After fouling off the previous three pitches, the 22-year-old Henderson lined a 2-2 knuckle-curve over the wall in right off Clarke Schmidt (2-1). Henderson tied the Los Angeles Angels’ Mike Trout for the major league lead in homers.
Henderson’s ninth homer of the month tied him with Chris Davis (2013) and Manny Machado (2018) for the third most in April in Orioles history. Brady Anderson hit 11 in 1996 and Frank Robinson had 10 in 1969.
“I’d like to say I know I can do it, but it definitely would be a little surprising,” Henderson said when asked if he thought before the season he would have 10 home runs before the end of April. “I’m definitely feeling good a little bit.”
It was enough of a cushion for Rodriguez (4-1), who matched a career high with 101 pitches while allowing at least one runner in each inning he worked. He allowed five hits, struck out three and walked three.
“We pitched so well against a really, really tough lineup, starting with Grayson,” Baltimore manager Brandon Hyde said. “Grayson was absolutely outstanding. Really good fastball with changeup tonight. Thought he kept them off balance extremely well.”
Rodriguez has not allowed a run in 12 career innings against the Yankees.
New York left 10 men on base and was 0 for 8 with runners in scoring position.
“We had our chances tonight,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “We had probably 10, 12 baserunners. We’ve had some of those nights where we got shut down when we had a lot of traffic. We just didn’t come up with a big hit, and they obviously kept us in the ballpark.”
Baltimore added an insurance run in the eighth. Caleb Ferguson hit Henderson with a pitch with one out, and Adley Rutschman singled to extend his hitting streak to 10 games. Henderson moved up to third on a flyout. Clay Holmes entered and induced a ground ball by Anthony Santander, but shortstop Anthony Volpe booted it to allow Henderson to score.
Danny Coulombe recorded three outs for his first save.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Yankees: New York placed OF Alex Verdugo on the paternity list and recalled C Carlos Narváez from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
Orioles: Baltimore activated LHP Cionel Pérez (right oblique strain) from the 10-day injured list and optioned RHP Dillon Tate to Triple-A Norfolk. … Hyde said RHP Craig Kimbrel was feeling better a day after leaving Sunday’s loss to Oakland with back soreness. … Both RHP Kyle Bradish (elbow) and LHP John Means (forearm) are with the team, and Hyde said they could be activated this week.
UP NEXT
New York LHP Nestor Cortes (1-2, 3.50 ERA) faces Baltimore RHP Dean Kremer (1-2, 4.61) as the series continues Tuesday.
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