Dean Kremer dominates in Orioles’ win over Rays

It’s been easy to forget during this tough season, but baseball is supposed to be fun. Tonight’s game was a reminder of that fun and that it doesn’t always have to be stressful. Sometimes, your favorite baseball team does everything right. The starting pitcher excels. The offense has good at-bats. The defense keeps things moving. The Baltimore Orioles did those things tonight as they cruised to a 6-0 lead behind a fantastic game by pitcher Dean Kremer.

The Orioles have had Ryan Pepiot’s number this season. It didn’t start off that way when Pepiot pitched eight one-run innings with 11 strikeouts back on June 16th. But in the following two starts, he allowed a total of nine runs in just 7.2 innings. Tonight wasn’t quite as bad, but he exited after three innings with three earned runs. Per the broadcast, the Rays are managing Pepiot’s innings as he is up to 167.2 for the season, 37 more than his 2024 total.

The Orioles jumped on Pepiot immediately, grabbing a two-run lead in the first despite getting just one hit. Leadoff batter Jackson Holliday worked a walk, followed by a double past third base by Jordan Westburg. With two runners in scoring position, the lineup went into Productive Outs for Orioles (POFO) mode.

Gunnar Henderson hasn’t homered since August 24th and his relative lack of power compared to last year has been a letdown despite Henderson’s successful season overall. Here, he fouled off five straight pitches before hitting a high fly ball to left field. It kept drifting and drifting to the wall, where Jake Mangum caught it with his glove just above the wall. Henderson had to settle for a sac fly as Holliday tagged up easily. Westburg moved to third.

Next up, Tyler O’Neill hit a soft ground ball to the left side. Westburg was off on contact, and the shortstop Carson Williams only had a play at first. 2-0 Orioles.

The Orioles scored their third run off Pepiot in the third inning, without the benefit of a hard-hit ball. Coby Mayo blooped a single over second base. He moved up to second on a Holliday groundout and came in to score on a single from Henderson. Henderson’s hit fell just in front of the centerfielder. It was the hardest hit ball of the inning at a not-so-blistering 83.8 mph. Pepiot finished the inning but did not return.

Three runs were more than enough for starter Dean Kremer. Watching Kremer’s starts is like a box of chocolates, if you know what I mean. What’s your favorite chocolate in the sampler box? I like a dark chocolate caramel. Tonight, Kremer was dark chocolate caramel.

Kremer needed just nine pitches to get through a 1-2-3 inning and retired the first nine batters he faced. The speedy Chandler Simpson broke up the modest no-no with a fourth-inning single. Simpson moved to second on a wild pitch with no outs, but Kremer induced a pop-up, a groundout, and a flyout to leave him stranded.

Kremer found himself in another jam in the fifth through no fault of his own. Dylan Beavers misplayed a one-out fly ball by Mangum, who ended up on second base. But Kremer was unflappable. He struck out the next two batters to end the inning.

After a 1-2-3 sixth, Kremer started the seventh and struck out Brandon Lowe. But after hitting Junior Caminero on his third straight pitch out of the zone, Kremer’s night came to an end. But what a great way to end the season. His final pitching line was 6.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K. José Castillo came on to finish the inning.

Meanwhile, the Orioles actually scored a lot of runs tonight! Scoring runs is fun, they should do it more often.

They were back to their POFO ways in the fifth inning. Colton Cowser and Mayo started things off with singles. Mayo was erased on a ground ball from Holliday, but Cowser moved up to third base. He came in to score on a sac fly from Westburg. POFO! Henderson walked, but O’Neill struck out to end the inning.

Ian Seymour allowed the run in the fifth and stayed on for the sixth. He got two quick outs, but hit Samuel Basallo on the first pitch of his at-bat. That brought Cowser to the plate, whose productive night continued. He took Seymour to a full count, then got a hold of a 91 mph fastball. 426 feet later, it was in the Eutaw Street seats and the Orioles were up, 6-0.

After the sixth inning, things were quiet for both teams. Colin Selby and Yaramil Hiraldo each pitched a scoreless inning. Selby, just returned from the IL, was perfect. Hiraldo issued the game’s only walk but struck out Josh Lowe to end the game.

It was a great start to the final home series of the season and a great final start of the season for Dean Kremer. These two teams are back in action tomorrow at 6:35 with Tyler Wells on the mound for the O’s.