Orioles minor league recap 10/3: Kremer’s season ends on high note but Tides bullpen coughs up game

Triple-A: Norfolk Tides 3, Durham Bulls 5

Dean Kremer closed out his 2021 season with a fine outing on Saturday. He went four innings, threw 64 pitches (47 for strikes), and allowed one run on five hits when Durham put together a minor parade of three singles in the third inning. Kremer ends his year at Norfolk with a 4.91 ERA in 62.1 innings. I hope that’s enough to build on for next season!

Blaine Knight (3.0 IP, 2 R, 8.49 ERA) did not hit such a high note, on Saturday or at Norfolk this season, but he pitched better than his line indicated. Knight scattered a pair of walks and a single over three innings, but then in the eighth he allowed two singles and was immediately replaced by Claudio Custodio. Both runners scored. Then Custodio made a mess of the ninth with a two-run homer that put the game away for Durham.

Durham Bulls starter Easton McGee blanked Norfolk over five innings. A single apiece from Adley Rutschman, Cadyn Grenier and Zach Jarrett was all the damage the Tides could do against McGee. Then the Bulls put in Phoenix Sanders to pitch the sixth inning, and the Tides promptly scored two: Grenier walked, Yusniel Díaz was hit by a pitch, and Mason McCoy hit a double to score them both. Díaz contributed again with a game-tying solo homer in the eighth, but after going down 5-3, the Tides could only muster a Zach Jarrett double in the ninth.

Complete box scores from Saturday’s games can be found here.

Sunday’s scheduled games:

Norfolk vs. Durham, 1:05 PM. Starter: Ryan Hartman (2-1, 4.65 ERA)