The crowd erupted today in the top of the first inning when Padres leadoff hitter Luis Arraez lifted a popup that Gunnar Henderson ran down in foul territory. No collision or dropped ball. Fans hadn’t forgotten yesterday’s blunder.
Henderson ranged past second base in the second inning and made a sprawling stop and throw to retire David Peralta. The ovation this time was louder. Henderson and Jordan Westburg caught line drives, the former from Kyle Higashioka at 107.1 mph, and James McCann threw out Ha-Seong Kim trying to steal third base in the third.
The best was saved for last, with Cedric Mullins sprinting to the center field track and making a leaping grab of Manny Machado’s fly ball at full speed before crashing into the fence at the 410 foot sign. The palm of his glove faced upward, much like the mood of a team that has been battling frustration as well as opponents.
The Orioles didn’t completely fix their defense. Henderson sailed and bounced throws past Ryan Mountcastle, giving the shortstop five errors in four games. They didn’t completely solve their offensive issues, doing all of their scoring in two innings. And the pitching turned a comfortable lead into the slimmest of margins.
There’s more work to be done, but they accepted the result with smiles, formed the congratulatory handshake line and chose which music to blast.