CLEVELAND — Gunnar Henderson hit a two-run homer and Adley Rutschman drove in three runs as the Baltimore Orioles beat the MLB-leading Cleveland Guardians 9-5 on Sunday.
Henderson went deep in the fourth inning against Gavin Williams (1-4) for his 29th home run of the season, giving the Orioles a 6-2 lead. Three batters earlier, rookie Jackson Holliday hit a solo homer as Baltimore split the four-game series.
“Give our guys credit for coming back for the split by winning the last two,” Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said. “They’re a tough team to play and this is a tough place to play. It was a good day for us offensively.”
Eloy Jiménez had three hits and Colton Cowser extended his hitting streak to 17 games, tying the Orioles’ rookie record set by Trey Mancini in 2017. Baltimore entered the day tied with the New York Yankees atop the AL East.
The Orioles banged out 15 hits for the second straight game after going four weeks without reaching that number. Henderson and Cowser scored three times apiece.
“It’s just a matter of time until we all start clicking again,” said Henderson, who homered for the first time since July 14. “To be able to go on out there and tack on more runs and help the bullpen today, it was huge.”
Corbin Burnes (12-4) won his third straight decision and recorded his 1,000th career strikeout. The 29-year-old right-hander worked five innings and gave up a season-high five runs, four earned.
Josh Naylor hit a 420-foot, three-run homer and Steven Kwan singled twice and stole two bases for the Guardians, who have won five of their last seven and are 67-44 overall. They also have the best home record in baseball at 35-17.
“Baltimore is young, they’re fun, they’re exciting, they can pitch and play defense,” Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt said. “That’s a really, really good team and I feel like we’re very evenly matched.”
Williams, who has lost all four of his starts at Progressive Field this year, allowed six runs in four innings. Connor Gillispie made his major league debut with three innings of one-run relief.
“The Orioles are good,” Williams said. “If you make a bad pitch, they’re going to hit it. I mean, even the good pitches you make, they’re going to put the bat on the ball.”
Baltimore is 2-2 on its longest road trip of the season, a 10-game set that ends in Tampa Bay on Aug. 11.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Orioles: C Adley Rutschman (lower abdomen) was struck by a foul ball from Lane Thomas in the third, delaying play for several minutes. Rutschman, despite being in visible agony, remained in the game.
Guardians: RHP Tanner Bibee (right shoulder tightness), who last pitched on July 29 at Detroit, will not start in the upcoming home series against Arizona. He is tentatively scheduled to face Minnesota next weekend.
UP NEXT
Orioles: RHP Grayson Rodriguez (13-4, 3.86 ERA) works Tuesday in the opener of a three-game series against Blue Jays RHP Chris Bassitt (8-10, 4.02 ERA).
Guardians: LHP Logan Allen (8-4, 5.67 ERA) will be recalled from Triple-A Columbus to start Monday against Diamondbacks RHP Zac Gallen (9-5, 3.56 ERA).
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