-1745819772711.png){kind=logo}
TAMPA – A fast start tonight by the Orioles would have to set a pace that didn’t let the Rays pass them. It was a dangerous little game that was destined to cause a crash.
Three of the first four batters reached and the Orioles scored twice before the bats were tamed again, with no runs over the next seven innings.
None were surrendered by Dean Kremer through the sixth and only one through the seventh for another quality start, but it proved to be no match for the Orioles’ failures in the clutch.
Seranthony Domínguez was charged with three runs, two earned, in the bottom of the eighth and the Rays rallied past the Orioles 4-3 before an announced sellout crowd of 10,046 at George M. Steinbrenner Field.
The losing streak grows to four games and the Orioles are 11 under again at 43-54.
"It doesn’t matter whether it’s the first two games of the year or the first two games after the All-Star break or first two games in the middle of September," Kremer said. "Anytime we drop games that we feel like we should have won, I think it’s frustrating. We have a pretty good caliber team here and it is what it is.”
Domínguez entered in the eighth and gave up a leadoff single to Ha-Seong Kim, who stole second base and moved to third on a fly ball. Chandler Simpson lined a game-tying single into right field, stole second base and moved to third on a wild pitch as José Caballero walked. Yandy Díaz also walked to load the bases.
Gregory Soto was summoned to face left-handed hitting Jonathan Aranda, who grounded to O’Hearn. The matchup move seemed to work, but O’Hearn’s throw to the plate got past catcher Jacob Stallings, allowing Simpson and Caballero to score.
"We’ve seen him so good here for a couple months now," interim manager Tony Mansolino said of Domínguez. "A couple outings now, the last one before the All-Star break and then that one, not up to the standard that he set for himself. But Ser’s got such a great track record in the league, he’s definitely a guy we’re gonna have a lot of faith in going forward.”
Soto did his job and the play still backfired on the Orioles.
“In that scenario there with the speed of Chandler at third base, you’ve got to get rid of that ball quick," Mansolino said. "I thought O did a good job. He got rid of it. He just didn’t make the throw that we wanted. I haven’t seen the replay of it yet, so I don’t know the circumstances surrounding it. It was nice going to his right. You’re not going to turn a double play right there, especially with the left-handed pitcher on the mound. As I looked up on the scoreboard, and I saw Soto turn and go right away. But just kind of looking at that scenario, if he does go to second base, the odds of turning that thing from first base is going to be really tough.
"I thought it was 100 percent the right decision going to the plate, just didn’t get the play done.”
Tyler O'Neill doubled off Pete Fairbanks in the ninth and scored with two outs on pinch-hitter Cedric Mullins' bloop single. Mullins stole second base, but the Orioles finished 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position after Jackson Holliday flied to the center field fence - a 401-foot cruel tease.
"I thought it had a chance," Holliday said. "It’s pretty big out there to center, so I didn’t really know. I knew I hit it well. I guess I just hit it a little bit too high. But I’ve seen some balls go out that have been hit a lot less hard than that here. So I thought I had a chance, but it just didn’t go far enough."
"I think as you know when you’re not scoring runs the way you want, it rarely is really easy to get out of it," Mansolino said. "I usually think there’s a game where you got to kind of fight for a few runs, then off it goes, and it felt like that was going to be one of those tonight. And you know, the swing by Jackson at the end of the game almost kind of was that type of a story right there for us. Unfortunately about a foot short."
Kremer has posted a 2.00 ERA in his last six starts, and he completed seven innings for the sixth time this season. He’s made three starts against Tampa Bay this season and registered a 0.95 ERA in 19 innings, and he owns a 1.83 ERA in 10 career starts against them.
“Just trying to be unpredictable and kind of thinking through every at-bat," he said, "thinking through the plan that we kind of put together and trying to execute that as best as we can and really using our eyes in-game and making any adjustments if need be.”
"Awesome," Mansolino said. "Yeah, he’s been so good here coming off that rough April. Just really proud of him competing, proud of him getting through the seventh with kind of how that thing was going."
And it doesn't matter if the same team is seeing him over and over.
“Charlie (Morton) has been pitching in the big leagues for about 17 years and he’s still managing to fool guys, and I’m pretty sure his stuff hasn’t changed a ton over the last handful of years," said Kremer, who allowed three hits. "You kind of have to figure out how to adjust and kind of keep guys not catching your scent. So I think it’s part of the game.”
So are sluggish starts and the Orioles were outscored 28-2 in the past three games, including back-to-back 11-1 losses. They jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning tonight on Gunnar Henderson’s sacrifice fly and O’Hearn’s RBI double, which forced Zack Littell to throw 27 pitches.
The early uprising was overdue. The Orioles were outscored 65-33 in the first inning before tonight, their output the third lowest in the majors. But Holliday had a leadoff single, went to third base on Jordan Westburg’s double and came home on Henderson’s fly ball. O’Hearn fell behind two strikes and pulled a splitter into right field for a 2-0 lead.
Perhaps Littell was due for a rough patch against the Orioles, who totaled four runs in 13 innings this season in the right-hander’s two previous starts. Littell had a career 2.74 ERA in nine appearances against them.
Littell followed with a pair of 11-pitch scoreless innings, getting a double play grounder from Henderson after Holliday singled again in the third. He retired the side in order on 14 pitches in the fourth and threw only six in the fifth, stranding Ramón Urías after Simpson overran a line drive for a gift double.
Singles by Westburg and Ramón Laureano put Littell in a sixth-inning jam, but he escaped it and was done after 89 pitches. He retired 16 of the last 20 batters.
Urías doubled off Edwin Ucela with one out in the seventh and was stranded. Westburg reached on an infield hit in the eighth, Henderson grounded into a force and stole second and third base, and the Orioles still couldn’t tack on a run.
"I thought we took good at-bats," Holliday said. "That guy’s kind of had our number throughout the year, and I thought that stuff was heading our direction throughout the game and then he kind of shut us down and they’ve got a really good bullpen. We looked really good in the first half of the game and just try to build off that."
Kremer caught a break in the third when O’Hearn caught Matt Thaiss’ line drive as Kim broke for second base, which resulted in an unassisted double play.
Traffic didn’t twist Kremer’s start. A leadoff walk in the second, leadoff single in the third, one-out single in the fourth and leadoff walk in the fifth amounted to nothing. Jacob Stallings threw out Josh Lowe trying to steal to end the fifth with Kremer at 68 pitches.
Kremer retired the side in order in the sixth but issued a leadoff walk to Díaz in the seventh led to his only run. Jonathan Aranda struck out on a curveball, but Junior Caminero doubled down the left field line and Díaz scored on Josh Lowe’s groundout.
"He’s just getting ahead early and then going to work," Holliday said. "When you’re ahead early in counts in the big leagues, it’s really tough as a hitter because guys got really good stuff and you’ve got three pitches to work with, you tend to get a lot of outs. He’s doing a good job throwing strikes and getting to his secondary stuff, and he’s one of the best in the game when he does that."
Kremer’s ERA for the season is down to 4.06, but tonight was the Orioles first loss to the Rays with him starting since May 20, 2021 at Tropicana Field.
Daytime, nighttime, it doesn’t really matter. Kremer is rolling.
What mattered was everything that came after he left.
"Obviously, we want everyone in this clubhouse to stay in this clubhouse," Holliday said when asked about the trade deadline. "We’ve got to start winning games like that tonight and just stack day after day and see what happens. We need to start winning more, and obviously, we don’t want anyone in this room to get traded because I love every guy in this room. But yeah, we’ve got to start winning."
* Left-hander Cade Povich made a rehab start with Triple-A Norfolk and allowed one run and three hits, with one walk and six strikeouts in 3 1/3 innings. He threw 62 pitches, 40 for strikes.
Jeremiah Jackson hit a game-tying, three-run homer in the eighth and Dylan Carlson hit a two-run homer in the ninth for the win.
Double-A Chesapeake’s Trey Gibson struck out nine batters in 4 1/3 innings. He allowed one run and three hits.
Outfielder Vance Honeycutt, last year’s first-round draft pick, struck out five times tonight and is batting .170 with a .560 OPS.
