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PHILADEPHIA – A bat shatters, a ball rolls past the mound and into center field, and a pitcher’s fist slams into his glove.
Dean Kremer couldn’t predict what would happen next, but frustration was the appropriate response.
The Phillies sent nine batters to the plate in the second inning, scored three times and led the entire way in a 5-0 victory over the Orioles before an announced sellout crowd of 43,660 at Citizens Bank Park.
The road trip concludes tomorrow with the Orioles 51-63 overall and 1-4 since the trade deadline. A sweep would be the first with Tony Mansolino as interim manager for an entire series.
Phillies starter Taijuan Walker held them scoreless over six innings. Tonight marked their 12th shutout loss.
"There’s no sympathy," Mansolino said. "Nobody feels sorry for us. We don’t feel sorry for ourselves. They’re competing and they’re fighting. This team right here is going to want to put their foot on our throats tomorrow and we are aware of that and we are going to go out and give everything we’ve got."
Tyler O’Neill went 0-for-2 and was replaced by Ryan Noda in the bottom of the sixth inning after complaining of right wrist soreness. O’Neill, who was playing his second game since missing Saturday and Sunday with an illness, leaped at the wall on Max Kepler's home run in the second inning and sustained the injury.
"Kind of caught his wrist in the fence," Mansolino said. "It’s a chain link fence. Sucked it up for a couple innings, took an at-bat with it, didn’t feel good. A couple more innings of defense and just got to the point where it was a little bit too sore. We’ll get it examined, check it out and kind of see where it goes.”
O'Neill said X-rays were negative. He motioned to the media to come to his locker so he could provide an update, a standup guy even when he's down.
“Felt something happen when I jumped up on the wall on a play earlier in the game," he said. "Taped it up and tried to get through it. Going into my second at-bat, I just aggravated it on a swing. Not going to jump to conclusions. ... Hopefully see some progression in the next 24 hours, go from there.
“It’s been a tough road trip for me. Just trying to stay healthy as possible. Like I said, it’s just been a tough trip.”
Nick Castellanos’ bat splintered on the grounder that reached center field with one out. The first stroke of bad luck. Kremer committed a balk when his left foot slipped in his delivery, causing him to spin and hold onto the ball. The second stroke.
Castellanos scored on Brandon Marsh’s double, and Kepler homered on a down-and-in fastball to give Philadelphia a 3-0 lead.
The pitch caught the bottom corner of the strike zone, but Marsh put his barrel on it.
Kremer was forced to throw 36 pitches in the inning because Bryson Stott reached on a fly ball that fell into right-center field and Trea Turner reached on a high chopper to third.
"I’d say two or three years ago, an outing like that, I’m probably out in the second, maybe the third, cause I let things get to me," Kremer said. "It’s been a lot more different of late, being able to go out there for the fifth and the sixth and kind of getting through it and eating as many innings as possible. I watched Gibby (Kyle Gibson) do it all year that year, in ’23, and I was in awe of it every time, just cause it’s a very mature thing to be able to kind of continue to roll when things may have been going your way.
“Definitely some breathing stuff in-between innings, and being able to really flush it and not let those things kind of fester. Even during the inning, being able to regroup and get that next guy out.”
Kepler led off the fourth with a double and scored with one out on Stott’s triple. O’Neill tried to make a leaping catch at the right field wall and the ball caromed away from him.
A double play aided Kremer in the fifth and he retired the side in order in the sixth to finish at 103 pitches. He allowed four runs and eight hits, with one walk and six strikeouts.
“Just the one inning," Mansolino said. "I felt like he threw the ball pretty good outside the blowup inning right there. Left a couple pitches up in the zone they put good swings on and did some damage right there, and we just couldn’t quite get him out of that right there. He was on a roll outside of that. I like how he threw the ball. It’s just the one inning got him again.”
"I thought Dean pitched really well today," said catcher Adley Rutschman. "His stuff looked good. He was throwing all five of his pitches for strikes, where he wanted to. Yeah, just some tough luck today. I thought he pitched really well, I was super proud of him.
"He’s a mature pitcher. I think just for him he always wants to go back out there and compete. He’s at 100 pitches and he still wants to keep going. For him, it’s just one of those things, even if he gives up a couple runs, he knows he can still go out there and pitch himself a great game and give us a shot. I thought he did a great job tonight and gave us six quality innings."
Mansolino would have appreciated any length from Kremer with the bullpen in a constant state of flux. Another move is coming soon with Rico Garcia claimed on waivers earlier today.
“I think if you look at the starting rotation, you feel pretty good about where it’s at after the trade deadline and the injuries and everything,” Mansolino said this afternoon. “I think as you look at the lineup, especially as we see Mounty (Ryan Mountcastle) here in the next few days, and at some point we’ll see some pretty big-time prospects get promoted, you’ll look at that and be like, ‘It’s not a bad nine in the lineup.’ It’s going to be competitive.
“I think the bullpen’s the one area right now where we’ve got to try to figure it out. We’ve got to try to figure out how to navigate it and find the right matchups and the right mixes for them.”
The Orioles stranded Jordan Westburg in the first inning after his one-out single, and Jeremiah Jackson was picked off first base after his infield hit in the second. Rutschman singled with two outs in the fourth and Coby Mayo singled with two outs in the fifth, and they were stranded.
Dylan Carlson struck out to end the fifth and flied out in the eighth, and he’s hitless in his last 24 at-bats. His average is down to .197.
Westburg was hit by a pitch with one out in the sixth, but Walker retired the next two batters. Westburg led off the ninth with a single and didn't get past second base - the only time they had a runner in scoring position.
Marsh completed the Phillies' scoring with a two-out solo home run off Yaramil Hiraldo in the eighth.
"Obviously, not where we want to be," Rutschman said. "I think we definitely have higher expectations for where we’d be at this time at the beginning of the year. It’s tough to not have some of the teammates that we had. Just such quality guys and such good clubhouse guys and great guys to have on the field. Loved having time with them here every day. It’s tough not having them around.
"The mentality for us doesn’t change. I think, if anything, just the fact of where we’re at right now should motivate guys more than ever to go out there and play as hard as they can. I think we show up every day still trying to win. That’s our mentality. We’ve got a lot of competitive guys in this locker room, and I don’t think that just goes away, and it won’t for us. I think that’s our job, and we’re going to go out and do it. "
* High-A Aberdeen pitcher Sebastian Gongora was removed from tonight’s game after being struck by a line drive on the side of his head. The Orioles drafted Gongora in the 11th round in 2024 out of Louisville.
Tyler Wells started tonight at Triple-A Norfolk and tossed 2 1/3 scoreless innings with three hits, two walks and four strikeouts. He threw 49 pitches, 31 for strikes.
Mountcastle played first base and hit his third home run. Dylan Beavers hit his 17th and Samuel Basallo his 22nd. Basallo’s two-run shot traveled 441 feet to center field.
Basallo also doubled twice and drove in four runs.
