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BOSTON – A prolonged series against the Red Sox subjected the Orioles to rain. Lots of rain. There were postponements and delays to start games or to interrupt them. The roster changed multiple times with contracts selected, a contract signed and a designation for assignment. The infielder who started in center field tumbled over the fence and landed in the home bullpen. The starting catcher had his mask rattled today by a vicious foul ball.
To come away with a split must have felt like a gift from the gods. Or maybe a sympathetic gesture.
Dylan Carlson and Ryan O’Hearn homered in support of Dean Kremer, who grinded through 5 1/3 scoreless innings, and the Orioles won 5-1 before an announced sellout crowd of 36,824 at Fenway Park. O’Hearn reached base four times and is batting .329 with a .956 OPS.
The Orioles went 3-for-4 on the trip and won yesterday for the fifth time in 21 games. They also won back-to-back games for only the third time and have held opponents to one run or fewer in consecutive games for the first time since Aug. 14-15, 2024. They’ll take an 18-34 record into the homestand that begins Monday afternoon against the Cardinals.
“The last two games were right where we should be," Kremer said. "It’s something to build off of, and all we can do is continue to move forward after that.”
Adley Rutschman was removed in the fifth after taking a Rafael Devers foul ball off his mask two innings earlier. He was nailed flush and plate umpire Emil Jimenez immediately checked on him. Rutschman slumped to his left.
"Getting hit with baseballs does not feel good, I promise, whether you have protection on or not," Kremer said. "I think he’s doing OK, he seems OK. I’m not a medical professional, so it’s not up to me, but I think he’s OK.”
Devers struck out, Rutschman caught the rest of the inning and the fourth, and Maverick Handley pinch-hit for him in the fifth. Rutschman went 0-for-2 and is batting .211 with a .659 OPS.
Interim manager Tony Mansolino didn't specify whether Rutschman is in concussion protocol.
“Took medical precaution. We’re just going to monitor and evaluate over the next 24 hours, and we’ll go from there,” Mansolino said.
“It’s just a precaution at the moment.”
Head athletic trainer Scotty Barringer made the call to remove Rutschman.
“As we kind of saw it play out, we have a great medical team," Mansolino said. "They were on him immediately, and we have (bench coach Robinson) Chirinos, too, who lived it himself. They were communicating with him immediately. The communication was great.
Once Scotty felt like there was a need to take him out as a precaution, we did it immediately."
The game was no longer scoreless in the top of the fourth inning after Gunnar Henderson drew a leadoff walk, O’Hearn singled and Ramón Urías flied to center field for a 1-0 lead against Walker Buehler.
Henderson singled with two outs and stole a base in the first inning and O’Hearn walked, but Urías flied to right. Cedric Mullins singled with one out in the second and Carlson grounded into a double play. But the Orioles built on their lead with Carlson’s leadoff homer in the fifth inning, his first with the Orioles. He was 1-for-21 before collecting two hits last night.
"I can think of a lot of good at-bats he’s had where he’s kind of lined out and had some tough luck," O'Hearn said of Carlson. "Big one today, big homer today, big hit last night. Happy for him. We need him to be good."
O’Hearn has been much hotter. His home run to right field with one out in the sixth gave him eight on the season. He came with a triple of the cycle, including a double that followed Gunnar Henderson’s walk in the eighth. Two throwing errors on the play let both runners score to give the Orioles a 5-0 lead.
"I feel good right now," he said. "They should count that Little League homer for real, but it’s not gonna happen. But yeah, it was a good day for everybody. Maybe the most complete game that we’ve played in a while. So very proud of that, and happy we saved the series."
The dugout erupted as O'Hearn circled the bases.
"It was fun," he said. "Stuff like that, baseball’s a crazy game. Things happen that you haven’t seen before. I don’t think I’ve ran full speed around the bases like that in a long time. Like I said, I wish it counted for a real homer."
O’Hearn is batting .364 (28-for-77) this month.
"Yeah, he’s been unbelievable," Mansolino said. "His first year here, he was really, really good. I felt like last year he kind of fell victim to some of the pressure around us not scoring runs in the second half. I thought he had a nice first half last year … and then the second half I thought he struggled. I think coming back, having the option exercised, he comes back, there’s some security there. He’s really carried us here the whole year. He’s been awesome."
Kremer was dodging traffic for much of his start.
Jarren Duran had a leadoff single in the first and Carlos Narváez walked with two outs. Marcelo Mayer collected his first major league hit with a leadoff single in the second, receiving the souvenir baseball from first baseman Emmanuel Rivera and tossing it to a bat boy. Duran opened the third by reaching on an infield hit, and Narváez singled and stole second base with two outs. Kremer kept bending and straightening.
A fly ball down the right field line in the fourth should have been caught but turned into a one-out double for Abraham Toro. Carlson slowed as Jackson Holliday maintained pursuit and no one got to it. But David Hamilton flied to the right field track, with Carlson making a nice grab, and Ceddanne Rafaela grounded out on Kremer’s 71st pitch.
Duran singled again in the fifth and Devers grounded into a double play. A strikeout got Kremer back in the dugout at 85 pitches.
The leadoff hitter reached base for the fifth time in six innings with Narváez’s single in the sixth. Kremer scattered seven hits and came out after 95 pitches.
"This is a tough day, man," Mansolino said. "After these last two days, doubleheaders and everything that was going on, we needed that."
“Can’t complain," Kremer said. "Getting out of innings with runners on has been a struggle for me throughout the year. Getting to two outs and then giving up a hit that scores a couple has kind of killed me of late. And being able to pitch with guys on and still getting bad contact, I’ll take it any day of the week.”
Kremer lowered his ERA to 5.02. He began the month with two runs allowed in 14 innings and surrendered eight runs and 16 hits in his previous two starts over 11 innings.
Urías leaped and pulled down Mayer’s bouncer after Gregory Soto entered the game and got the force at second base.
Duran collected his fourth single with two outs in the seventh, but Keegan Akin retired Devers on a fly ball. Bryan Baker cruised through the eighth before Andrew Kittredge surrendered a run in the ninth to deny the Orioles their second shutout.
“I don’t want to talk about turning the corner," O'Hearn said in response to a question that suggested it. "I want to take it one day at a time. I feel like in this business that’s the best way to go about it. I think every time you get a win, you build confidence.
"I thought the bullpen was electric today, Dean pitched great today. Guys are throwing good right now and I’m just proud of the complete game we put together. Defense was amazing today. Carlson made a really good play early in the game. Just proud of the guys.”
