Dean Kremer, two-run sixth propel Orioles past Rays, 2-1, for series win over MLB’s best team

The Tampa Bay Rays might be leaving Baltimore in the same position they arrived — as owners of the best record in the major leagues — but they took a back seat to the Orioles this week.

The three-game set between the two best teams in the American League opened with a dominant Rays victory, but the Orioles overcame that shutout loss Monday to win two straight and take the series over the AL East juggernaut. Baltimore won the rubber match Wednesday, 2-1, thanks to Dean Kremer’s stellar start and a sixth-inning rally on offense.

Kremer pitched perhaps his best game this season, especially considering the opponent. The 27-year-old delivered six scoreless innings, allowing just four hits and two walks while striking out four, to continue Baltimore’s stretch of six consecutive solid (or better) starts that dates to Friday in Atlanta.

“I think our pitching really stepped up,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “… We had some high-scoring games there and we didn’t pitch very well in Kansas City. For this team to have success, we need to pitch. These last six games, we’ve thrown the ball outstanding.”

Like Tuesday’s 4-2 triumph, Wednesday’s wasn’t one that featured Orioles sluggers mashing baseballs. Baltimore’s bats have mustered just 12 runs in their past five games while struggling mightily with runners in scoring position. Despite the stumbles, the Orioles capitalized on their best scoring opportunity of the night, plating two runs in the sixth on an RBI groundout by Adam Frazier and an RBI single from Austin Hays.

“To show up to the park knowing you’re going to have a chance to win every game that you play is a phenomenal feeling after some of the big losses, just being out of it in the third, fourth inning a couple years ago,” Hays said. “It’s come a long way really fast, and that’s all you can ask for is a competitor, to show up and have a chance to win every game, night in and night out, so it’s a it’s a great feeling.”

Baltimore’s bullpen followed Kremer (4-1) to cap off the win, as Austin Voth, Danny Coulombe and Yennier Cano combined to allow just one run in three innings. Coulombe struck out both batters he faced in the eighth to strand a runner, and Cano continued his surprising dominance with a scoreless ninth for his third save of the season.

The series win — the club’s eighth in its last nine — over the Rays (29-9) is Baltimore’s second straight over an AL East opponent after it dropped the first two divisional sets of the season. The Orioles (24-13) are 6-6 against the AL East; they went 34-42 against the division in 2022. They are 11-5 at Oriole Park and have won 16 of their past 22 games.

The Orioles end their six-game span against the National League-best Atlanta Braves and Rays with a 3-3 mark, including two close wins and two close losses.

“We felt like we were in those games, we had a really good chance to win a series there in Atlanta,” Hays said. “So to be in that same situation here, have a hard-fought game again, good pitching on both sides and just try to find a way to have timely hitting and score some runs to give us the lead and let our bullpen do their thing.”

The schedule doesn’t ease up, as the Orioles have one of the hardest remaining schedules in the majors, according to FanGraphs, with 40 games left against the AL East.

“We’re just trying to build off that and continue that for the rest of the season,” Kremer said.

Kremer, who has won four of his past five starts, walked the second and third batters of the game before retiring nine straight. He allowed two one-out singles in the fourth but induced a double play ball — the Orioles’ MLB-leading 42nd of the season — to end the threat. The right-hander gave up two more singles to lead off the fifth but hunkered down to retire three straight, with two strikeouts, to escape his third jam of the game. Kremer retired the side in order in the sixth, during which he hit 97.5 mph on his four-seam fastball for the hardest pitch of his career. His 95.9 mph average fastball velocity was the fastest for any start in his career.

“Very satisfying,” Kremer said about stranding five runners. “Any time you can look up and see no runs, you did something right.”

Kremer has gone 11 straight innings without giving up a run, lowering his ERA from 6.75 to 4.97. He pitched six innings of one-run ball in Friday’s win over the Braves.

“We talked about how well he pitched tonight in Atlanta, and tonight even better,” Hyde said. “He’s figuring out a little bit, learning how to pitch. Got some double play balls when he needed it, used the sinker effectively, he can step on a four-seamer from 96-97 [mph], he’s got other pitches as well. That’s a tough lineup to navigate through, and he did an outstanding job.”

The Orioles allowed 18 runs in the six games against the Rays and Braves — the second- and fourth-highest scoring teams in the majors, entering Wednesday. They held Tampa Bay batters to 1-for-20 with runners in scoring position. The Rays came into Baltimore hitting .289 with a .477 slugging percentage in those moments.

The Rays weren’t alone, though. The Orioles have also been sputtering with ducks on the pond, entering the night four for their last 38 in such situations and then starting the game 0-for-4. But after Adley Rutschman singled to lead off the sixth and Anthony Santander doubled to extend his hitting streak to nine games, the Orioles finally came through with runners in scoring position. Ryan Mountcastle walked to load the bases, Frazier grounded out to second to score a run and Hays’ sharp ground ball between third and short scored Santander for the eventual game-winning run.

Voth pitched a dominant seventh but allowed a run in eighth while recording just one out. Coulombe, a left-hander, relieved Voth, pitching in his first game since he allowed the game-winning home run in the eighth in Saturday’s loss. Coulombe said after taking that loss that “you’ve got to have a short memory” as a reliever, and he responded by striking out right-handed sluggers Randy Arozarena and Harold Ramirez to strand the would-be game-tying run.

Cano retired the side in order to shut the door one night after pitching 1 2/3 scoreless innings. The sinkerballer still hasn’t allowed a run in 18 2/3 innings and sports a 0.16 WHIP in 14 appearances. Cano has powered an Orioles bullpen that entered Wednesday ranked fourth in the majors with a 3.12 ERA.

Around the horn

• Bench coach Fredi González will manage the Orioles’ game Saturday against the Pirates as Hyde attends his daughter’s graduation at Syracuse University. González, Hyde’s bench coach since 2020, managed 1,402 games (710-692) between 2007 and 2016 for the Florida Marlins and Atlanta Braves.
• The Orioles announced their starting pitchers for this weekend’s series against Pittsburgh. Kyle Bradish, Tyler Wells and Kyle Gibson will pitch Friday, Saturday and Sunday, respectively, against the National League Central-leading Pirates.
• Reliever Dillon Tate (right forearm strain) had perhaps his best outing of his minor league rehabilitation assignment Wednesday afternoon with the Norfolk Tides. The right-hander allowed a hit and a walk in a scoreless inning after he surrendered eight runs in his first four innings between High-A Aberdeen and Double-A Bowie. Reliever Mychal Givens (left knee inflammation) gave up two runs while recording two outs Wednesday night for Bowie. Givens is expected to pitch again Thursday — an important hurdle for the veteran reliever to be deemed ready to return to Baltimore.

Pirates at Orioles

Friday, 7:05 p.m.

TV: MASN2, MLB Network

Radio: 97.9 FM, 101.5 FM, 1090 AM

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