The Baltimore Orioles took the keys to the game to heart on Sunday afternoon in Washington, D.C. Prior to the game local Broadcasters Brett Hollander (WBAL Radio) and Ben McDonald (MASN) each stated that a key to winning today was scoring early and often. McDonald even went so far as to say the team needed to score three runs in the first inning.
Baltimore did score early, just not the three runs McDonald predicted in the first; the team put runs on the board in the second, third and fourth innings as well. By the end of the fourth, the Orioles had established a 6-2 lead on the way to a 7-3 defeat of the Washington Nationals (23-24).
Gunnar Henderson opened the scoring by hitting a 397 ft. solo homerun that landed in the third deck of Nationals Park in the first inning. Henderson singled and stole second base in the third, doubled in the fifth and singled home Jeremiah Jackson in the ninth on his way to a 4 for 5 day.
Coby Mayo (1 for 4) hit a two-run homerun in the second inning, a blast that did clear the left-field foul pole in contrast to the blast he hit on Saturday. Mayo did not do a bat flip today, however.
Pete Alonso (0 for 4) hit a sacrifice fly in the third that allowed Taylor Ward to score.
Colton Cowser (1 for 4) hit a two-run homerun in the fourth, his first of the season.
Making the start on Sunday was Brandon Young who was pulled wfrom the game after 3.2 inning. He left with the bases loaded and finished with a line of 2 runs allowed on 5 hits with 3 walks, 3 strikeouts and a wild pitch. Young gave up a solo homerun to Jacob Young in the second inning as well.
Anthony Nunez (2-0) struck out 3 over 1.1 innings of relief for Young and earned the win.
From there, the bullpen finished the last 4.0 innings with Tyler Wells surrendering a run over 2.0 innings while Yennier Cano and Rico Garcia keeping Washington scorless in the 8th and 9th innings, respectively.
All in all, it was a good win for the Birds.
2026 Record: 21-26
Next Game: Mon. 5/18 @ 6:40 pm @ Tampa Bay Rays
