-1745819772711.png){kind=logo}
Orioles interim manager Tony Mansolino hung the label of “day game Deano” on his starting pitcher this afternoon, though Kremer’s splits in reality are slightly better at night.
Mansolino turned out to be correct, whether by accident or some sort of premonition.
Kremer shut out the Rays on three hits over seven innings and the Orioles claimed the series with a crisp 5-1 victory before an announced crowd of 19,226 at Camden Yards.
The homestand ends with the Orioles splitting six games to leave their overall record at 36-47. They’ve gone 15-11 this month and are 20-13 since Game 2 on May 24.
"Every divisional series win is beneficial and advantageous down the road," Kremer said. "If we get into a spot where we’re competing for a Wild Card spot, we get to hold it over their head down the stretch. So it’s big winning all of our divisional games."
Brandon Lowe homered off Félix Bautista leading off the ninth, only the third allowed by the Orioles’ closer in 28 2/3 innings. Bautista issued a walk and struck out the next three batters.
Kremer produced only the third quality start by the Orioles in 17 games. He walked one batter, struck out six and provided much-needed length through 93 pitches.
"This whole thing, it comes down, when our starters throw the ball good, we hit better, we play better defense, we win games," Mansolino said. "And I think all 30 teams are that way. I don’t think it’s unique to us. As our starters go, we kind of go.”
The seven innings matched Kremer’s season high. He’s allowed two runs in his last three starts over 17 2/3.
“Day game Deano," Mansolino said again. "And I don’t know where he’s lined up here in these next couple series. I hope it is on a day game. I don’t know why. The only reason why I say that is our pitching coaches joke about it, so I kind of hear the information about it. I’m not sitting up there looking up Deano’s daytime splits. I have no idea. I’ve got way other things to worry about. But they said it, and as I’ve watched it here the last couple times, I’m like, 'Man, there’s something to it.'
"Who knows? He threw the ball great today and it’s exactly what we needed.”
The extreme heat did more than soak uniforms in sweat, it also caused a power outage in the Baltimore rack room where the major league support equipment is stored. Video was nonexistent in the clubhouses, and teams were given unlimited challenges.
Also lost were velocity readings and Statcast data at the ballpark, including pitch identifications, until halfway through the game.
Line drives by Ramón Laureano and Colton Cowser off Rays starter Taj Bradley passed the eye test in the second inning. Laureano stroked a leadoff double into left-center field and scored on Cowser’s single into left for a 1-0 lead.
Kremer stranded two runners in the first and retired 10 in a row before Jake Mangum’s infield single with two outs in the fourth. He struck out Curtis Mead on a high fastball.
Lowe walked with one out in the sixth and Yandy Díaz grounded into a 6-4-3 double play. The Rays went down in order on four pitches in the seventh.
"Just executing the plan as best I can," Kremer said. "The plan we went in with was similar and then adjusting as the game kind of went on. Just got to execute."
Kremer hasn't surrendered a home run in a career-best seven consecutive starts, but he doesn't want to dwell on it.
"I don’t want to answer that question," he said. "That’s bad karma."
Bradley also got on a roll, retiring nine straight after Cowser’s RBI single. The Orioles battered him in Tampa, scoring seven runs (six earned) in 1 1/3 innings, and they went after him again today in the fifth.
Gary Sánchez had a leadoff single, Cedric Mullins reached on a bunt hit and Coby Mayo lined a curveball into center field for his ninth major league RBI. Holliday moved up the runners with a ground ball to the right side, and Mullins scored on Ramón Urías’ sacrifice fly for a 3-0 lead.
Ryan O’Hearn led off the sixth with a double and held on Laureano’s infield single, with Rays shortstop Taylor Walls making a diving stop. Sánchez drove in O’Hearn with a single against reliever Kevin Kelly, a bouncer off Brandon Lowe’s glove. Mullins’ fly ball increased the lead to 5-0
Mayo almost had his second major league home run, and first against a pitcher, but center fielder Chandler Simpson made a leaping catch at the fence. The ball was 105.1 off the bat and traveled 406 feet.
Cowser took his turn at robbing a hitter in the eighth, preserving the Orioles’ shutout bid with a leaping grab of Danny Jansen’s fly ball off Keegan Akin near the splash zone after Simpson singled.
“It was a great catch, you know?" Laureano said. "That’s a late-spin ball, in that area of the ballpark, and he did an easy job there.”
“I'm just glad he didn't hurt himself again," Mansolino said. "I told him, ‘I'm proud of you for not going on the IL for the next three days here,’ like he did last time, or the fake IL. He's a really dynamic player. We’re not quite seeing it on the base paths as much as I want to see it. I want to see him go. I want to see him steal some bases. He's got it. I'm constantly giving him a hard time about not running more and we've got good coaches that are coaching him up on when and why to do it. But he affects the game in all three ways.
"You see it on the defense. You see it with the bat in his hands. You look up, he's already at .850 I think on his OPS. It's happened pretty quick and the next evolution, for me, for him in his game is just stealing more bags, being more dynamic on the paths, things like that. But he's a good player.”
Lowe ruined a possible fourth shutout for the Orioles, but they were more interested in the win.
They need to string together a bunch of them.
“It’s extremely important right now, for sure, especially midseason," Laureano said. "And we need to continue to win ballgames.”
Kremer is making it easier, day or night. He seems to prefer the afternoon, but "Day game Deano" has a better ring to it.
"There’s significantly less sitting around all day, stewing on whatever, waiting to start my routine," he said. "I think that helps me, anxiety and stuff of that nature. It helps me not ... get it over with, but kind of get it over with."
* Mansolino was asked about Westburg's pregame work.
“We'll punt until tomorrow on that," he said. "I'll give you a better idea tomorrow. So he swung the bat OK. Doesn't feel the best. So we'll see where it goes tomorrow, very day-to-day, and I think this is kind of the normal day-to-day thing.
"Some days it feels good, some days it doesn't. So, I think we're going to get past 48 hours tomorrow. Usually after the 48-hour mark, you'll see some gains. We'll kind of see where it goes.”
* Samuel Basallo’s 16th home run today with Triple-A Norfolk traveled 444 feet. Vimael Machín homered twice to give him nine this season.
Cameron Weston allowed five runs and seven hits in 4 1/3 innings. Cionel Pérez retired all four batters he faced and lowered his ERA to 5.40.
Tyler O’Neill hit a two-run homer at Double-A Chesapeake.
High-A Aberdeen’s Eccel Correa allowed an unearned run in five innings.
