Kremer and bullpen shine as Orioles beat Rays 2-1, take the series

Tonight was fun, you guys! The Orioles had great pitching and just enough hitting to beat the Rays and win both the series and the game, 2-1.

Everyone was wondering which Dean Kremer would show up tonight. Would it be the pitcher who stymied the Atlanta Braves last week, or would it be the mess that amassed a 6+ ERA over the rest of the season? It looked like it might be the latter when Kremer walked two in the first inning. But after those two batters, Kremer got it together and looked even better than the pitcher who beat the Braves.

The only two walks Kremer surrendered were those that came back-to-back with one out in the first inning, after which he went on to retire nine batters in a row. The Rays tried to rally in both the fourth and fifth innings with back-to-back singles each time. In the fourth, Kremer induced a ground ball double play get out of the inning. And in the second, with runners on first and second with no outs, Kremer simply struck out two and got a fly ball out to end things.

Kremer finished his night with a 1-2-3 sixth inning, and what a night it was. His fastball was hitting 97 with regularity, he induced 11 swings and misses, and he looked in control. His final pitching line: 6 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K. He exited the game with the score 0-0, but his team did him a solid and scored two runs in the bottom half of the sixth to put him in line to get the win.

Just as Kremer had shut down the Rays, the Rays’ pitchers did the same to the Orioles through five innings. Opener Jalen Beeks allowed just one hit through the first two innings, a double by Adam Frazier. He was followed by Yonny Chirinos, who gave the Orioles chances that they didn’t capitalize on...at first.

They had two baserunners in the third thanks to a Cedric Mullins single and Adley Rutschman walk but couldn’t bring them in. They wasted an Austin Hays double in the fourth. Ryan O’Hearn walked with one out in the fifth, but Mullins hit into a double play. But then, finally, in the sixth inning, they broke through.

Rutschman started things off with a single, then motored over to third on a double from Anthony Santander. Ryan Mountcastle worked a walk to load the bases. Yes, I said that right! He walked! That brought Adam Frazier to the plate. He didn’t exactly deliver a decisive blow, but he did ok. He chopped a ball to the right side that wasn’t quite a double play ball. It was hit a little slow and Mountcastle’s hard slide at second ruined any chance.

Mounty was out at second but Adley scored from third to put the first run of the game on the board. Hays promptly followed with an RBI single and, after Gunnar Henderson worked a nine-pitch walk, the Orioles looked primed for a huge inning. Alas, there was no huge inning. Jorge Mateo, whose offensive star has been falling fast of late, and O’Hearn were not able to bring in any more runs.

Thanks to the impressive Orioles bullpen, those two runs were exactly how many the team needed to win. Austin Voth replaced Kremer and looked great in his 1-2-3 seventh inning but was shaky when he came back out for the eighth. Yandy Diaz and Wander Franco got to him for a double and a single, respectively, leading to a run scored. It sucks but like, those two are very good at baseball. I am not going to lose my newfound faith in Voth over it.

After that though, it was all over for the Rays. Danny Coulombe replaced Voth and was outstanding. Randy Arozarena pinch hit and Coulombe made him look silly on a three-pitch strikeout. He did basically the same to Harold Ramírez to get out the inning. Those breaking pitches are no joke!

It was Yennier Cano time in the ninth, and he was just as filthy and ridiculous as you’ve come to expect. Actually, he might have been even more filthy and ridiculous than you’ve come to expect. He made it look easy with an eight-pitch 1-2-3 inning. He got two groundouts and a swinging strikeout to finish the game.

O’s win, 2-1! They take the series from the only team in the American League with a better record than them and have looked strong through the first six games of the so-called gauntlet. They are off tomorrow before welcoming the Pittsburgh Pirates to town on Friday. The Pirates are falling back to earth after their hot start and hopefully, the Orioles can take advantage.