BALTIMORE — Friday was shaping up to be an all-too-familiar loss for the Orioles — at a time when they couldn’t afford it, with Monday’s trade deadline looming and president of baseball operations Mike Elias clearly on the fence about which direction to go.
But a player who’s consistently struggled in high-leverage spots this season used a clutch hit to flip the script.
With the Orioles and Phillies tied at two in the seventh inning, Gunnar Henderson roped a triple into the right-center field gap, scoring two runs to give Baltimore its first lead of the night. Henderson looked down, screamed and punched the dirt beside third base in satisfaction after his hit, which was the difference in the Orioles’ 6-4 win.
Baltimore (54-56) entered the frame down two. It had gone three up and three down in three straight innings against Philadelphia starter Andrew Painter, who was pulled after 82 pitches across six innings.
The Phillies’ bullpen entered Friday 20th in MLB in ERA. It showed.
In the seventh inning, Orion Kerkering allowed a single to Jackson Holliday before striking out Coby Mayo and walking Colton Cowser. Christian Encarnacion-Strand then pinch hit for catcher Yahel Pozo and doubled to even the game at 4. The third baseman is hitting .324 through nine games as an Oriole.
Newly-extended Yennier Cano pitched a scoreless eighth inning before Tyler Wells pitched a clean ninth for his fourth save, securing a vital win for Baltimore.
Elias said before the game that he wouldn’t have a strong bias toward buying or selling at the trade deadline. But Baltimore is 15-8 in July and just two games behind the Cleveland Guardians for the final AL wild-card spot. Pressure is mounting on Elias to make a move to help the team.
On paper, it looked as if the Orioles boasted the clear advantage entering Friday.
Painter came in with a 7.06 ERA and 1-8 record across 14 games this season. He hadn’t started in the majors in more than a month. And the Phillies, as a team, entered reeling, having lost seven of eight games coming into Friday, including a sweep by the Miami Marlins, who had been on a franchise-worst 12-game losing streak before facing Philadelphia.
It didn’t look that way early. Outside of first baseman Pete Alonso’s team-high 23rd home run in the first inning that scored Dylan Beavers, Baltimore was silenced by Painter, who went six innings.
Meanwhile, Orioles starter Brandon Young matched a season high with four earned runs allowed.
The first inning was again a problem for Young, who entered Friday with a 4.24 first-inning ERA — his worst in any frame.
Trea Turner reached with a leadoff single before Kyle Schwarber walked. Bryce Harper then singled off Young’s four-seam fastball to score Turner. Philadelphia left-handed batters came into Friday slugging .483 against fastballs, compared with just .269 against splitters.
Young employed his splitter 21 times, generating two of his five strikeouts on the pitch. Brandon Marsh grounded out off the pitch to score Schwarber in the first inning.
Turner gave Philadelphia the lead back in the third inning with a solo shot. Catcher J.T. Realmuto added another solo blast in the sixth, knocking Young out of the game after 5 2/3 innings.
It appeared Young was set to take his first loss since June 10. Instead, the Orioles staged a late-inning rally for the second straight game, after they came back from down seven runs in Detroit on Wednesday for their largest comeback since 2009. It’s exactly the kind of stacked wins they need.
“We do care about making the playoffs in 2026, but we put ourselves a little bit behind the eight ball, and we’ve got some ground to make up,” Elias said pregame.
Baltimore is in the midst of making up that ground. The question is whether reinforcements will arrive soon to help the playoff push.
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