NEW YORK (AP) — Gunnar Henderson’s best night of his brief big league career sent Luis Severino to one of his worst.
Henderson set career highs with two homers, four hits and five RBIs — all in the first four innings — and the Baltimore Orioles routed the New York Yankees 14-1 on Thursday.
“That was amazing,” Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said. “He’s got so much power and to be able to go opposite field the way he did in the top of the first — spraying the ball around hard, really exciting young player with a ton of tools.”
The left-handed hitting Henderson homered to left for his first leadoff homer and singled in the second, when the Orioles’ lone scoreless inning against Severino ended with Adley Rutschman fouling off eight straight pitches before flying out to left.
“I felt like that kept setting us up to have a pretty good offensive night — we made him throw a lot of pitches and saw him three times before the third inning,” Henderson said.
Baltimore sent 21 batters to the plate in the third and fourth innings, opening a 13-0 lead with 11 hits, three walks and one hit batter. Henderson chased Severino with an RBI single in the third and then hit a three-run homer off Albert Abreu in the fourth.
“Great, great team offense tonight,” Hyde said. “Loved our two-strike approach. Thought we were really grinding at the plate, battled. Ton of great at-bats, scored a ton of runs.”
Henderson, bidding to become the fourth Orioles player this season with a five-hit game, grounded out in the fifth, struck out in the eighth and flied out in the ninth.
“Just felt like I had a lot of at-bats in the game and the game wasn’t even halfway over,” Henderson said with a grin. “Ended up with seven on the day, so that was pretty funny.”
Baltimore scored its most runs since a 15-10 win over Boston last Aug. 19 and had 20 hits, its high since 21 in an 18-5 victory over Cleveland on June 6, 2021. Ryan O’Hearn had three hits and four RBIs and Cedric Mullins hit a two-run double for the Orioles, who won their second straight to gain a four-game split.
Every Baltimore starter had a hit except rookie Colton Cowser, appearing in his second big league game. The 14 runs were the most the Orioles have scored against the Yankee since a 17-9 win on Sept. 27, 2005.
The Orioles stranded a season-high 15.
Hyde missed the final inning-plus after he was ejected in the top of the eighth for arguing with umpires after both teams were issued warnings when Wandy Peralta plunked Jordan Westburg.
Severino (1-4) allowed seven runs and 10 hits over 2 2/3 innings and has a 7.38 ERA with a .315 opponents’ batting average and .560 slugging percentage. He got just three swings and misses on the 23 fastballs.
“Right now they’re just hitting the ball everywhere,” Severino said. “I feel well-prepared mentally. I go out there to compete and then all of a sudden, on three or four innings, I’m out of the game.”
Severino, who entered this season 50-29 with a 3.39 ERA in parts of seven big league seasons, has given up 37 runs in his last seven games — the worst such stretch for a Yankees pitcher since CC Sabathia gave up 39 runs in seven games from July 14 through Aug. 18, 2013.
“I’ve never been this bad of a pitcher my whole life,” Severino said. “It’s a little tough to get my head around.”
Kyle Bradish (5-4) allowed three hits over six innings.
New York got its only run in the ninth, when first baseman Ramón Urías misplayed a two-out, two-strike grounder by Billy McKinney for an error, allowing Oswaldo Cabrera to score from third.
A Bronx cheer rose up from the crowd of 39,766 when Mullins grounded out, ending a five-run fourth. Fans paused from their wave during the fifth inning and booed when catcher Jose Trevino and first baseman DJ LeMahieu let a pop-up by Ramón Urias fall behind them.
“Obviously, tonight’s just a bad night for us — no fun to go through, but part of it,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “We’ve got to obviously kind of dig deep and get Sevy to where he needs to be.”
Isiah Kiner-Falafa made his fourth pitching appearance of the season. He allowed one hit in a scoreless ninth, lowering his ERA to 2.25.
HENDERSON, BOONE RELIEVED
Henderson and Boone each spoke Thursday to YES Network cameraman Pete Stendel, who sustained a broken left eye socket when he was hit by Henderson’s errant throw in Wednesday night’s game. Stendel, who gave a peace sign as he was carted off the field after a 17-minute delay, was released from a hospital Thursday.
“Glad everything was OK,” Henderson said. “He just reached out and said ‘Don’t let it affect you in any way. Things happen.’”
“I’m glad he’s able to be at home resting,” Boone said. “Obviously a very scary situation. I know I saw it in real time and it kind of freaked me out a little bit.”
ROSTER MOVES
The Yankees recalled RHP Deivi García from Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to fill the roster spot opened when RHP Randy Vásquez was optioned to the Triple-A affiliate after Wednesday’s game. New York claimed LHP Anthony Misiewicz off waivers from Detroit and assigned him to Scranton. … The Orioles traded RHP Chris Vallimont to Cleveland for cash. Vallimont made his big league debut Monday and was designated for assignment Wednesday.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Orioles: LF Austin Hays (left rib) felt better and hopes to return this weekend. Hays was injured Sunday during a collision with Minnesota’s Donovan Solano, hours after Hayes learned he’d been selected to the AL All-Star team for the first time . … OF Aaron Hicks (left Achilles tendinitis) was scratched from the starting lineup about 90 minutes before first pitch.
Yankees: OF Jake Bauers (shoulder) had a cortisone shot for a bruised rotator cuff sustained while making a diving catch Wednesday and likely will go in the injured list. … OF Aaron Judge (right toe) is hitting off a tee, facing both soft and overhand tosses and running on a treadmill. … LHP Nestor Cortes (rotator cuff) is expected to throw to hitters Sunday and then again at the Yankees’ Tampa complex on July 13.
UP NEXT
Orioles: LHP Cole Irvin (1-3, 6.32 ERA) is slated to start Friday as Baltimore opens a three-game series at Minnesota. Irvin is 1-1 with a 3.44 ERA in four starts and one relief appearance since returning from Triple-A Norfolk on June 10.
Yankees: LHP Carlos Rodón will make his New York debut in the opener of a three-game series against the visiting Chicago Cubs. Rodón, who signed a six-year deal worth $162 million in December, strained his left forearm in spring training and was slowed by a stiff back during his rehab.
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