Kremer allows 4 home runs, Orioles’ rally falls short in 9-7 loss to Cubs

BALTIMORE–What happened? Dean Kremer gave up four solo home runs, a career high, and that helped send the Orioles to their third straight defeat.

Kremer allowed Pete Crow-Armstrong’s 19^th home run in the third, and three in the space of four batters in the fifth. Michael Conforto and Carson Kelly hit consecutive homers, and one batter later, Crow-Armstrong hit his 20^th as the Chicago Cubs beat the Orioles, 9-7, before 18,935 at Camden Yards on Wednesday night.

Chicago (52-40) scored five runs off Rico Garcia and Grant Wolfram in the seventh to put the game out of reach.

The teams combined for nine home runs. The Cubs hit five and the Orioles four.

The Orioles (42-51) equaled their season low by falling nine games under .500 as the reality of a second straight trade deadline selloff becomes more and more a possibility.

The Orioles had a 3-1 lead in the fourth. Blaze Alexander scored as Gunnar Henderson hit into a double play in the third, and Pete Alonso hit his 20^th home run, a two-run shot against Colin Rea (7-5).

Kremer (1-2) started for the fourth time this season. He missed 2 ½ months with a right quadriceps muscle strain. He allowed four runs on six hits in five innings.

“I thought he threw the ball well outside of that one inning,” manager Craig Albernaz said. “Both of PCA’s home runs, they were good pitches and he’s a really good hitter and did a good job of getting underneath the split. The other ones were just out over the plate and they put good swings on them.”

Garcia pitched a 1-2-3 sixth and walked Kelly with one out in the seventh. Dansby Swanson singled. Wolfram walked Crow-Armstong to load the bases. Kelly scored on Alex Bregman’s sacrifice fly, and after Michael Busch walked, Swanson scored on a wild pitch by Wolfram.

Seiya Suzuki hit a three-run home run, his 13^th, and the Orioles were behind, 9-3. The five home runs allowed tied a season high.

Wolfram’s ERA rose to 5.06. He’s walked six batters in his last two outings after walking three all season.

“It was one of those things where he was throwing the ball well for us,” Albernaz said. “This was one of those outings where walks killed him.”

Rea gave up three runs on seven hits in 5 1/3 innings.

Tyler O’Neill slammed a pinch-hit home run against Drew Pomeranz, his fourth, in the seventh. Taylor Ward’s run-scoring single in the seventh cut the Cubs’ lead to 9-5.

Coby Mayo hammered the Orioles’ second pinch-hit home run with one out in the eighth. It landed in the second deck in left field, just the eighth ball in the history of the ballpark to reach the second deck.

O’Neill followed with his fifth home run, both against Caleb Theilbar, and the Orioles trailed, 9-7.

Jackson Holliday doubled with two outs, his fourth hit after beginning the game in an 0-for-15 slump. Swanson at shortstop made a brilliant play to catch Henderson’s line drive, ending the eighth.

“It was good to see T.O. come off the bench, which is tough to do, and hit two homers,” Albernaz said. “And the same thing with Coby. That was an impressive home run. They were ready off the bench. That’s what I love about the guys that, they’re not in the lineup, they know their name could be called and they’re ready for it.

“And our guys did a good job of fighting back. Who knows what would happen if Dansby didn’t make an unbelievable play up the middle on Gunnar’s line drive. I was proud of our guys for fighting, but still came up short.”

Former Oriole Jacob Webb collected his fourth save with a scoreless ninth.

What did Kremer think of his outing? The home runs were Kremer’s undoing.

“I mean, PCA beat me on the second one, for sure,” Kremer said. “It was a good pitch, he hit it pretty well. The Conforto one and the other PCA one was just kind of the ballpark there. Both were hit at 94, so nothing I can really do there.

“And then the one Carson hit, that’s one of those ones where you let go and you just know. So out of the four, that one is the one, to me, that it is what it is. That’s like 10 times out of 10 that’s probably a homer. 

Kremer didn’t think the outing was disastrous.

“I’m not going to take anything back,” he said. “I felt like I executed very well. I executed the game plan very well, and balls just got hit up in the air and they carried. Not really looking to change my approach. Ball’s been coming out pretty good this whole year.”

What does it mean? While the Orioles had 14 hits, a season high, the four early home runs and Wolfram’s bad outing put them in a huge hole, one too difficult to recover from.

What’s the stat of the day? 2. Gunnar Henderson grounded into three double plays in the first 92 games of the season. He grounded into two in the 93^rd game.

What’s the word? “A bullpen, they’re not going to be flawless every single time. Very rarely is there a guy in the bullpen with a zero ERA for the whole year.’-Albernaz on the Orioles’ bullpen.

What’s going on with the minor leagues? Cade Povich allowed seven runs on six hits in 3 1/3 innings as Triple-A Norfolk lost to Syracuse, 9-3, in the first game of a doubleheader.

Norfolk won the second game, 3-2. Christian Encarnacion-Strand drove in two runs.

Juaron Watts-Brown gave up a run on four hits in five innings in Double-A Chesapeake’s 8-2 loss to Akron. The RubberDucks scored seven runs against Zane Barnhart and Keegan Gillies in the sixth and seventh.

Yeiber Cartaya allowed four runs in 3 1/3 innings as High-A Frederick lost to Jersey Shore, 9-5.

Elvin Garcia and Jordan Sanchez homered in Single-A Delmarva’s 9-8 loss to Kannapolis.

What’s next? Due to an unfavorable weather forecast, the Orioles-Cubs game will begin at 1:35 p.m. on Thursday instead of the originally scheduled 6:35 p.m. Trevor Rogers (6-7, 4.70) will start against David Peterson (4-7, 6.75).

Call for questions: Most weekdays, I’ll be answering at least one Orioles question. Please send yours to: Rich@BaltimoreBaseball.com