For the fourth consecutive game, Baltimore Orioles shortstop Gunnar Henderson hit a home run on Monday night as he took sole possession of the Major League lead for four-baggers.

The former Morgan Academy standout and Alabama’s Mr. Baseball for 2019 came to the plate with St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Sonny Gray working on a no-hitter through five innings. But after St. Louis shortstop Masyn Winn allowed Baltimore’s first two batters in the sixth to reach on errors, Gray served up an 85-mph sweeper that Henderson hit 417 feet for his 16th home run of the season.

But that was it for the Orioles on Monday night, and the Cardinals posted a 6-3 victory in the interleague game.

Henderson also hit home runs against the Seattle Mariners on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Baltimore plays the Cardinals again at 6:45 p.m. CDT Tuesday at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.

Four players with Alabama baseball roots have hit home runs in five or more consecutive Major League games. Among players who reached the big leagues from Alabama’s high schools, colleges, industrial leagues and sandlots, the longest streak of games with a home run is six, established by Willie Mays and matched by Frank Thomas.

Mays hit home runs in six consecutive games for the New York Giants in 1955 and for the San Francisco Giants in 1965. Thomas homered in six consecutive games for the Oakland Athletics in 2006.

Mays had five-game streaks with home runs in 1954 and 1956. Thomas had two five-game streaks with home runs in 1994 with the Chicago White Sox.

Two other players with Alabama baseball roots have homered in five consecutive MLB games – Hank Aaron with the Atlanta Braves in 1966 and David Dahl with the Colorado Rockies in 2018.

The Orioles’ franchise record is six games in a row by Ken Williams in 1922 (when the team was the St. Louis Browns), Reggie Jackson in 1976 and Chris Davis in 2012.

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.