Fastball

Baltimore Orioles Star Breaks Up No-Hitter in Way Not Seen in 30 Years of History

Gunnar Henderson was not going to let the Baltimore Orioles get no-hit by the Detroit Tigers on Friday night.

Brady Farkas

Baltimore Orioles shortstop Gunnar Henderson (2) swings through a third inning single against the Chicago White Sox at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on Sept 4.
Baltimore Orioles shortstop Gunnar Henderson (2) swings through a third inning single against the Chicago White Sox at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on Sept 4. / Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images
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The Baltimore Orioles lost to the Detroit Tigers on Friday night, 1-0, to fall to 83-65 on the season. It was a very tough loss that now has Baltimore 3.0 games back of the New York Yankees in the American League East with 14 games to play.

They do remain in firm grasp of the first wild card spot though. As for the Tigers, they remain red-hot. They are now 76-72 and just 2.5 games back of the Minnesota Twins for the third and final wild card spot.

While the Orioles lost, there was one silver lining: They weren't no-hit. Baltimore avoided being no-hit thanks to a Gunnar Henderson triple with two outs in the ninth inning. It's the second no-hitter this week we've seen broken up in the ninth inning. Just on Wednesday, the Mets avoided being no-hit by Toronto.

Henderson's hit was actually a historic one, according to Sarah Langs of MLB.com:

Gunnar!

this is the second no-hit bid on record broken up in the 9th with 2 outs with a TRIPLE, joining:

9/25/95, Bernard Gilkey off Frank Castillo

Though the Orioles have slumped for the last two months, Henderson has remained one of the best players in baseball. He's likely to finish in the Top-five of MVP voting as he's hitting .281 with 36 homers, 85 RBI and 18 stolen bases. Aaron Judge, Juan Soto, Bobby Witt Jr., himself and Jarren Duran could potentially make the top-five.

The Orioles and Tigers will play again on Saturday night with first pitch coming at 6:10 p.m. ET.

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Brady Farkas

BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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