BALTIMORE — Rookie Gunnar Henderson homered, Kyle Bradish had another dominant start and the Baltimore Orioles beat the Washington Nationals 1-0 on Tuesday night, hours after the team announced that Hall of Fame third baseman Brooks Robinson died.
“I think a lot of guys tonight played with a heavy heart,” Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said. “He’s an icon in this game and an icon in this city. There’s not many of those.”
Entering the night, Baltimore held a 2 1/2-game lead over second-place Tampa Bay in the AL East. The Orioles have five games remaining and hold the tiebreaker over the Rays.
Bradish (12-7) allowed three hits, struck out four batters and had a pair of walks over a season-high eight innings. He has thrown at least six inning innings in his last eight starts and is 6-1 since Aug. 1.
Washington was shut out by Baltimore for the third consecutive time this season.
“I felt good,” Bradish said. “Being able to complete that eighth was big. The bullpen is beat up. So, the past few starts for our guys have been huge.”
Yennier Canó picked up his eighth save for the Orioles, who have won seven of their last 10 games.
Baltimore (98-59) is two wins shy of their sixth 100-win season in franchise history. The last time the Orioles finished with 100 wins was 1980, when they went 100-62.
Henderson led off the first with a homer on a seven-pitch at-bat off Josiah Gray. It was Henderson’s 28th home run of the season, tied with Cal Ripken Jr. for the second-most by a rookie in franchise history. Ryan Mountcastle tops that list with 33 in 2021.
“It shows baseball is a crazy game,” Henderson said. “You start off with that but then don’t score any more runs. It was a weird game but I’m glad we got the job done.”
Gray (8-13) settled down and did not allow another run through six innings. He gave up five hits with seven strikeouts and two walks.
“He pitched really well,” Nationals manager Dave Martinez said. “He used all of his pitches. I’m proud of him.”
Washington reliever Robert Garcia gave up a leadoff single to Henderson and walked Adley Rutschman to open the ninth. However, he got Anthony Santander to hit into a double play and Henderson was thrown out trying to steal home to end the threat.
“It was kind of a frustrating game offensively for us,” Hyde said. “Give (Gray) credit. He was effective with the cutter against our lefties. He has a good curveball. He mixed extremely well. Besides Gunnar, we didn’t do much offensively.”
However, the Nationals could not capitalize.
Nationals third baseman Illdemaro Vargas had his career-high 13-game on-base streak snapped after going 0-for-3.
REMEMBERING BROOKS
The Orioles held a moment of silence for Hall of Famer Brooks Robinson, who died Tuesday at the age of 86. Robinson played his entire 23-year career in Baltimore beginning in 1955. He was named to 18 All-Star games, won 16 consecutive Gold Gloves and was a member of the 1966 and 1970 World Series championship teams.
TRAINERS ROOM
Orioles: RHP Félix Bautista (right elbow) threw 25 pitches in live batting practice Tuesday, the first time he’s faced a hitter since Aug. 25. The closer hasn’t been ruled out from the postseason roster. … INF Mountcastle (left shoulder) took batting practice and is eligible to come off IL on Wednesday.
UP NEXT
Nationals: LHP Patrick Corbin (10-14, 5.13 ERA) will start the finale on four days’ rest after allowing five runs on five hits and one walk over 4 1/3 innings against Atlanta on Sept. 22
Orioles: RHP Grayson Rodriguez (6-4, 4.49 ERA) has been dominant since rejoining the club from Triple-A on July 17 and has held opponents to three earned runs or fewer in 11 consecutive starts.
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