Gunnar Henderson exits late in Orioles’ loss to Guardians

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The ending to the Orioles’ 9-5 loss to the Cleveland Guardians included the departure of shortstop Gunnar Henderson and catcher Carlos Narváez playing second base for the first time in his professional career.

Henderson fouled a ball off his left knee near the patellar tendon in the bottom of the eighth, and while he remained in to finish his plate appearance with a walk, he didn’t feel comfortable running to second base on the subsequent groundout.

He left with a trainer. After the game, wearing a compression sleeve on his knee, Henderson said he’s “day-to-day.”

“Didn’t feel great running out there, but we’ll see how it feels in the morning,” he said. “Right now, it’s fine. It’s just when I was trying to stop out there, it really didn’t feel good, and yeah, should be day-to-day and should be fine tomorrow. We’ll see.”

Narváez was the pinch-running choice, and in an odd twist, he remained in the game. Narváez played some third base and first base while in the minors, but he has mostly played catcher throughout his career. As it is, he manned second base for the top of the ninth.

He did so because infielder Blaze Alexander was also removed due to back spasms he felt after fielding a bunt attempt in the top of the seventh. Christian Encarnacion-Strand entered in the ninth to play third base and Jackson Holliday moved from second to shortstop.

Even though he’s a catcher, Narváez occasionally fields grounders at second base. The infield glove he wore was his own, Narváez said, which he keeps just in case of a situation like this one.

“Someone had to play second,” manager Craig Albernaz said. “Narváez does have infield history when he was young, and he looked good out there. We needed someone to go out there and play and just catch the ball.”

Prior to those injury concerns, the Orioles fell behind early before staging a comeback with a four-run fifth inning, highlighted by Pete Alonso’s two-run home run. With it, Alonso now leads the American League with 97 RBIs.

But in the seventh, the Guardians found a way to extend their lead, and in doing so, they forced Baltimore (70-76) into its seventh loss in eight games.

After the Orioles trailed by six runs early, Alex Hoppe attempted to hold a one-run deficit. Instead, an error led to three runs, which sunk Baltimore’s comeback attempt in the second game of this meaningful series full of postseason implications — the loss leaves Baltimore four games out of the wild card and gives Cleveland the season tiebreaker due to the head-to-head record.

With two runners on and one out, Hoppe induced a grounder to Alonso at first base. Trying to begin an inning-ending double play, Alonso fired to second. But his throw plunked Jo Adell’s helmet and ricocheted into the outfield, which brought the first run to score.

Then with two outs, Brayan Rocchio flicked a two-run single into center field to separate the Guardians for good. All three runs were unearned, which maintains Hoppe’s perfect ERA as an Oriole, but the two walks and the error proved costly. Adell reached via a free pass. So did Petey Halpin, whose two-out walk allowed Rocchio to bat with the bases loaded.

Plus, had Alonso opted for the out at first base rather than attempting to sneak a throw to second, the inning may have played out differently. Upon watching the replay, Albernaz said the preferable choice from Alonso would have been going to first for the sure out.

Since joining the Orioles, Hoppe has generally avoided the control issues that followed him throughout the minor leagues. In 13 games entering Tuesday, the right-handed reliever had yet to uncork a multi-walk appearance.

“The strike zone was eluding him. Getting ahead in counts was eluding him,” Albernaz said. “But he has such great stuff that he almost wiggled out of it.”

The bullpen was under heavy pressure because right-hander Brandon Young lasted just 3 2/3 innings. Until Hoppe, the zeroes remained. After Baltimore scored five runs off right-hander Tanner Bibee, the Orioles couldn’t break through again.

A costly pitch

Baseball is a series of what-ifs, and Young may be wondering about his location to Travis Bazzana in the second inning. With two outs and a full count, Young and catcher Samuel Basallo opted to go right after Bazzana with a four-seam fastball. It wound up right down the middle, and Bazzana didn’t miss it.

“Felt good, pretty pissed off,” Young said. “Didn’t do my job, and there’s not excuse for it.”

Young has compiled a fantastic year that few banked on. Even with a season-high six earned runs against him in 3 2/3 innings, Young’s ERA only rose to 3.71.

Still, Young has been susceptible to the home run lately. In his first 17 starts this year, Young allowed nine homers. In his next eight, including Tuesday, Young has conceded 11 long balls.

“Leaving balls in the middle of the plate; getting hurt on it,” Young said. “I’m not getting ahead. Pretty pissed off.”

Noteworthy performance

A little over a week ago, Luis De León was thrown right into the major league waters. He didn’t exactly swim — the 23-year-old left-hander allowed a two-run home run — but De León showed off the arm talent that makes him an exciting prospect.

De León allowed a run in his second appearance, too. But his next two, including the sixth inning Tuesday, have been scoreless.

The Dominican Republic native’s outing Tuesday was his best yet. After allowing a leadoff single, De León used a low-and-away slider to force Steven Kwan to roll over into a double play. He then pumped in 97-mph sinkers to Bazzana, eventually forcing an inning-ending grounder.

De León arrived as a September callup to provide another left-handed option to the bullpen. For a pitcher who at times struggled with command in the minors, he has lived in the zone through 3 2/3 innings at the highest level.

Even if his in-zone rate invites some contact, it’s better than walking batters. De León has shown much to like over the first week of his major league career, and he still could translate to becoming a starting pitcher — which he was in the minors until recently.