Orioles' Gunnar Henderson relishes first grand slam at any level: 'That was pretty cool'

BALTIMORE - There may not be a hotter hitter in baseball right now than Orioles' Gunnar Henderson.

The rookie infielder once again rounded the bases, hitting his 10h home run of the season, against the Toronto Blue Jays Tuesday evening at Oriole Park.

However, this one had a little more spice.

Henderson hit his first career grand slam, on a 1-0 pitch, over the left-centerfield wall in the third inning. He said it was his first grand slam at any level of baseball.

"That was my first grand slam ever, throughout my whole baseball career, so that was pretty cool," Henderson said after the game.

Henderson has hit a home run in three consecutive games, and four in his last five games. He crushed a 462-foot home run, the longest in a game at Oriole Park onto Eutaw Street, on Sunday.

It has been quite a week for the 21-year-old, who will turn 22 on June 29.

He was named American League Player of the Week for the first time after hitting .526 with three home runs and six RBIs over a five-day span last week.

"I just feel like I'm very aware of what I want to do when I get in the box," he said. "I'm just going up there and executing my plan."

Henderson was feeling so locked in at the plate on Tuesday, coming through with three more hits, that when he stepped to the plate with the bases loaded, he was thinking about hitting a grand slam.

"Kind of passively a little bit, but at the same time I was trying to get the job done and push across a few runs," Henderson said. "I was able to get it up in the air and push across a little more."

Henderson struggled to start the season, batting just .170 through May 12.

But now, he has his batting average up to .246 with 10 home runs, 25 RBIs and 35 runs scored.

Henderson has thrived in the lineup since he was moved to the leadoff role, going 8-for-15, after centerfielder Cedric Mullins suffered an injury.

"You can't expect a guy to hit a grand slam," teammate Adam Frazier said. "But you expect him to hit a ball hard like he's been hitting. The pitch is a cutter in and to be able to get inside of it and muscle it out to left-center, more center field, that was a pretty impressive swing."