Baltimore Orioles superstar Gunnar Henderson has officially turned himself into a villain among Detroit Tigers fans everywhere.
On Friday, the Tigers were ever-so-close to achieving a combined no-hitter against the Orioles at Comerica Park in Detroit, Mich.
Tigers closer Tyler Holton came in for the top of the 9th with Detroit up 1-0. Holton dispatched both Emmanuel Rivera and Coby Mayo to get the Tigers one out away from their 10th no-hitter in franchise history.
But Henderson had other ideas. The Orioles slugger smashed the first pitch he saw from Holton down the right-field line for a triple.
Gunnar Henderson hits a triple to break up the no-hit bid with two outs in the 9th. pic.twitter.com/GFtRKj1Ixm
— MLB (@MLB) September 14, 2024
First baseman Spencer Torkelson was just a millisecond too late to make a play on Henderson’s ball, which came off the bat at 103.2 mph.
The Detroit Tigers came this close to no-hitting the Baltimore Orioles tonight. pic.twitter.com/IzgVbXDazj
— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) September 14, 2024
The saving grace for the Tigers was that Holton was able to strand Henderson at third a batter later, preserving a 1-0 win for Detroit.
The Tigers used an opener Friday, trotting out starting pitcher Beau Brieske for just 1.1 innings before bringing in Brant Hurter.
Hurter and Holton combined for 7.0 innings of perfect baseball before Hurter allowed the Orioles’ first baserunner in the 8th. Orioles catcher Adley Rutschman drew a walk to open the inning.
Tigers lose a combined perfect game on a walk in the eighth inning pic.twitter.com/GoLD8vn2LD
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) September 14, 2024
While the Tigers would surely want a do-over on Henderson’s at-bat, they can take solace in the fact that things could have ended up a lot worse.
