Gunnar Henderson drilled a home run in the first inning, one of four homers for the Baltimore Orioles on their way to defeating the visiting Philadelphia Phillies 8-3 in the rubber game of a three-game series Sunday afternoon.
Colton Cowser, Adley Rutschman and Jordan Westburg also homered by the fifth inning, creating a rough game for Phillies starter Zack Wheeler.
Baltimore won the final two games of the series — the only scheduled meetings of the season between two of the top teams in the big leagues — after losing Friday night’s opener in 11 innings.
Starting pitcher Corbin Burnes (8-2) gave the Orioles another strong outing, going six innings and surrendering two runs on seven hits. He struck out seven and walked two.
Philadelphia’s Alec Bohm went 3-for-4 and drove in two runs, finishing the series with eight hits. Phillies manager Rob Thomson wasn’t around to see it all after his ejection in the top of the sixth inning.
Wheeler (8-4) gave up four homers — with Westburg’s three-run shot in the fifth the big blow — among the nine hits he allowed in 4 1/3 innings. Baltimore scored in four of the first five innings, capped by four runs in the fifth.
Henderson’s 22nd homer of the season, which ranks second in the majors, was his first smash of the Orioles’ just-concluded five-game homestand.
Cowser hit his ninth home run of the year in the second, Rutschman’s 14th blast came in the third and Westburg launched his 11th long ball in the fifth. That made the score 8-2.
Westburg and Cowser both finished with two hits. The Orioles had scored as many as seven runs only once in their previous 11 games.
Cionel Perez, Nick Vespi, Jacob Webb and Yennier Cano all worked in relief for Baltimore, with Cano notching his third save by recording the last out with the bases loaded.
Bohm hit an RBI single as part of a two-run Philadelphia fifth and added an RBI double in the seventh. Bryce Harper had two hits and a run for the Phillies.
–Field Level Media