BALTIMORE >> Gunnar Henderson hit a two-run drive in the eighth inning for his first career pinch-hit homer, and the Baltimore Orioles beat the New York Mets 3-1 in the opener of a doubleheader on Thursday.

Colton Cowser sparked Baltimore’s winning rally with a leadoff single, chasing David Peterson. Henderson connected for his 11th homer against Ryne Stanek (2-5), a 400-foot drive to right on a 2-1 slider.

Ramon Laureano completed the Orioles’ three-run eighth with a sacrifice fly. Grant Wolfram (1-0) worked two scoreless innings for his first career win, and Felix Bautista pitched a perfect ninth for his 18th save.

It was a morale-boosting result for the Orioles after the day began with the trade of high-leverage reliever Bryan Baker to Tampa Bay.

Tyrone Taylor hit an RBI double for New York in the fifth against Charlie Morton. Peterson allowed five hits, struck out six and walked none.

The Mets scored four times in the eighth in a 7-6, 10-inning victory in the series opener on Tuesday.

Orioles 7, Mets 3 (2nd game) >> Jordan Westburg homered and drove in three runs as the Baltimore Orioles defeated the New York Mets 7-3 on Thursday to sweep a doubleheader.

Alex Jackson doubled twice and scored two runs in his Baltimore debut to help the Orioles win for the fifth time in six games. They took both ends of a twinbill for the first time since June 2016 against Tampa Bay at home.

In the opener, Gunnar Henderson hit a two-run drive in the eighth inning for his first career pinch-hit homer, sending Baltimore to a 3-1 victory.

The split-admission doubleheader was scheduled to make up Wednesday night’s game, which was postponed due to a forecast of inclement weather.

In the nightcap, Colton Cowser put the Orioles ahead for good with an RBI single off reliever Justin Hagenman (0-1) during a two-run fifth.

Baltimore also scored on groundouts by Jackson Holliday and Ramón Laureano, and a fielding error by third baseman Brett Baty.

Tomoyuki Sugano (7-5) allowed three runs over six innings, yielding two of his four hits against the Mets’ first two batters, Brandon Nimmo and Francisco Lindor. Juan Soto followed with an RBI groundout and Pete Alonso had a sacrifice fly.

Cubs 8, Twins 1 >> Pete Crow-Armstrong hit two home runs for his fifth multi-homer game this season, powering the Chicago Cubs past the Minnesota Twins 8-1 on Thursday.

Crow-Armstrong, whose first-half breakout earned him a starting spot for the National League All-Star team, went 3 for 4 with three runs and three RBIs to help the Cubs avoid a three-game sweep. Colin Rea (7-3) won his third straight start with a three-hitter over a season-high seven innings, and Minnesota native Michael Busch added two RBIs.

Rea allowed only a fifth-inning home run by Kody Clemens, as the 35-year-old right-hander turned in his longest start since seven shutout innings for Milwaukee last Aug. 18.

Dansby Swanson doubled and scored on Nico Hoerner’s single in the second inning to give the Cubs their first lead of the series, and they kept hacking for all five innings against Twins starter Chris Paddack (3-8).

Paddack, who considers Rea a mentor dating to their time together with San Diego for his advice on recovery from Tommy John elbow surgery, gave up 11 hits and six runs. He is 1-5 in his last 10 starts, with the Twins winning three.

Crow-Armstrong hit a two-out, two-run homer in the third inning, a 414-foot blast that was a few inches too high for center fielder Harrison Bader to catch as he jumped at the wall.

Crow-Armstrong led off the seventh against Anthony Misiewicz with a solo shot to tie teammate Seiya Suzuki for sixth in MLB with 25 homers.

The Cubs travel to New York for a three-game series against the Yankees starting Friday. Neither team had announced their starter.

The Twins host Pittsburgh for a three-game series starting Friday, when RH Paul Skenes (4-7, 1.94 ERA) takes the mound for the Pirates opposite RH Joe Ryan (8-4, 2.76 ERA) in a matchup of All-Star starting pitchers.

Reds 6, Marlins 0 >> Spencer Steer homered and Nick Lodolo pitched six strong innings as the Cincinnati Reds beat the Miami Marlins 6-0 on Thursday to earn a split in the four-game series.

Elly De La Cruz singled for his 100th hit of the season, stole second, and scored on Austin Hays’ single to put Cincinnati ahead 1-0 in the first.

Steer’s solo home run, his 11th of the season, made the score 2-0 in the second.

Cal Quantrill retired 11 straight following Steer’s homer, but the Reds loaded the bases with no outs in the sixth.

Lodolo (6-6) allowed only three hits with no walks and four strikeouts. It’s the seventh time this season that the Reds’ lefty allowed one run or fewer.

De La Cruz singled in a run and TJ Friedl raced home on a throwing error by right fielder Dane Myers to make it 4-0 in the sixth. Hays followed with a two-run single.

Quantrill (3-8) pitched five-plus innings and allowed five earned runs, the most since April 19 when he allowed seven at Philadelphia.