Baltimore’s Gunnar Henderson continued his strong performance at-bat on Wednesday against the Los Angeles Angels.
His standout moment came on defense when he tagged out Jo Adell at second base with a great throw from catcher James McCann, securing the final out as the Orioles held on for a 6-5 win.
Adell tried to steal second base after drawing a walk with two outs, aiming to score as the potential tying run after the Angels trailed 6-0 in the bottom of the sixth. Mike Trout kickstarted Los Angeles’ comeback by hitting his 10th home run of the season, making him the first player in the majors to reach this milestone.
Henderson, who had three hits and drove in three runs, commented, “I felt like I got a good tag on him. It was really close. We’re very fortunate that they called it out on the field.”
The call stood after a lengthy replay review. Major League Baseball explained in a statement that the replay official couldn’t definitively determine if Adell touched second base before Henderson tagged him.
Angels manager Ron Washington and Adell believed it should have been overturned. “The guy on the mound (Craig Kimbrell) was slow. The opportunity was there and we took it,” Washington said. “From all replays we saw, it looked like he was safe but we didn’t make the call.”
Adell felt his foot reach the bag before the tag. “A little disappointing to end the game that way. But hopefully, we can get those right moving forward,” he said.
Kimbrell allowed a run in the ninth but secured his seventh save of the season, marking his 424th career save, tying with John Franco for sixth on the all-time list.
Henderson has had nine hits in the last five games. The shortstop, last year’s unanimous choice for AL Rookie of the Year, hit a home run for the second consecutive game when he led off the third with a drive off Tyler Anderson (2-3). It was Henderson’s eighth home run of the season, ranking him second in the American League.
