BALTIMORE—After the unexpected demotion of Dean Kremer 10 days ago came the expected promotion. Kremer came back from the alternate training site at Bowie to start Wednesday night’s game against the New York Yankees, and for the second consecutive night, an Oriole rookie starter was pounded.
After Bruce Zimmermann allowed four runs on nine hits in 3 2/3 innings on Tuesday, Kremer gave up six runs on 10 hits in 4 1/3 innings as the Orioles lost to the Yankees, 7-0, before 7,338 at Oriole Park on Wednesday.
Four of the six runs Kremer (0-2) allowed came on home runs. Mike Ford led off the second with his second home run of the season. Gio Urshela hit a three-run home run, his fourth, in a four-run third inning.
Gleyber Torres’ RBI single in the third and Aaron Hicks’ sacrifice fly in the sixth were the other New York (11-13) runs against Kremer, whose ERA rose to 8.40.
“I just thought his command wasn’t real good tonight,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “I thought he had good stuff … Fastball command was erratic, and without a breaking ball that doesn’t land consistently, it’s going to be very difficult. They squared a lot of balls up. I give him credit for competing and getting into the fifth inning.”
It could have been worse. In the first, DJ LeMahieu led off with a single. Giancarlo Stanton slammed a 119.4 mph rocket to third base. Maikel Franco made a pretty pickup and threw to second baseman Rio Ruiz, who made a fine pivot and throw to first to get Stanton. Torres followed with a double, and he moved to third on a wild pitch by Kremer, but Urshela struck out for the third out.
“I probably didn’t get ahead as much as I should have,” Kremer said. “Every time I came in the zone, down in the count, they capitalized.”
Kremer is trying to stay positive.
“There’s only up, I guess,” he said. “It’s going to be an adjustment period here this year, I understand that. It’s just hammering the things I need to do to try to figure out what makes me good.”
With two rookies, Zimmermann and Kremer in the rotation, there are bound to be growing pains.
“That’s part of being in the major leagues as a young player,” Hyde said. “You’re saw that for our hitters the last couple of years. It’s not an easy league, and they’re facing good lineups. They’re going to have some tough days, and they’re going to have some good days.
“This is a tough lineup to pitch against. You’ve got to have your “A’ game. You’ve got to have command. If you don’t, it’s going to be very, very challenging, a lot of balls hit hard.”
Of Kremer’s eight major league starts, four have come against New York.
“They’re a pretty disciplined team, if you come into the zone, they’ll hurt you,” Kremer said. “It definitely helps them that they’ve seen me a bunch. You could flip it around. I have seen them a bunch, so I should know how to pitch around them or through them.”
Yankee starter Domingo Germán (2-2) was nearly unhittable. He walked DJ Stewart with one out in the second and didn’t allow a hit until Ryan Mountcastle, who had been 3-for-36, beat out a ground ball to third with two outs in the fifth.
Germán allowed singles to Trey Mancini and Pedro Severino in the seventh. He struck out six in seven innings and improved his record against the Orioles (10-14) to 5-0 with a 2.41 ERA.
“I thought Germán was really, really good,” Hyde said. “He’s throwing all pitches for strikes, keeping the ball down in the zone against us, elevating when he wanted to.”
Severino won the award for strangest defensive play of the night. Aaron Hicks popped up in the eighth, and instead of third baseman Maikel Franco catching it, Severino caught it past third base, and kept running in foul territory toward left.
Shawn Armstrong pitched a hitless 1 2/3 innings after Kremer left, and Tyler Wells gave up Clint Frazier’s first home run of the season in the eighth.
Mancini’s ninth-inning single against Michael King was the 500th hit of his career.
Notes: Jorge López (1-3, 8.15 ERA) will face Jordan Montgomery (1-1, 4.57) at 1:05 p.m. on Thursday. … The Orioles were shut out for the fourth time.
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Germain nearly unhittable, except with woman, what a jerk....go O’s...
Win this afternoon, get a split
It gets annoying to constantly hear that "their hitters are disciplined/hard to pitch to". When will they finally say this about the Orioles' lineup? Are they un-coachable? Are they "what they always will be"? Even the better hitters(Mancini/Santander)are pitchable. Kremer sent to the alternate site 10 days ago for needed work--how did that work out? Was he sleeping in class? Can't wait for opening day of MiLB. That's when the clock will really start ticking. Heard an interesting comment from Palmer the other night that I kinda chuckled to myself about----"if you wanna pitch for Brandon Hyde you better throw strikes". Nice thought but a wee bit of a stretch Jim.
Agree, how’s he holding them accountable?...go O’s...
During last night broadcast Palmer said something about the cutter usage of Kremer and said he’s getting cutter happy. He’s not using the curveball or changeup. Good to see Armstrong have a good outing. Seems like he’s finding his rhythm. Mountcastle had a hit. Should’ve had a homer but it only got to the track. I didn’t understand using Scott. If you wanted to get him work to work on command then fine but now he might be unavailable for today’s game.
Kid doesn't pitch for 10 days, then gets rocked, good work, Hyde. Maybe, when Genius1 comes to his senses, you'll be gone with the rest of the minor leaguers.
Maybe Genuis 1 is to blame . Hyde is just a messenger boy.
:)...go O’s...
Maybe Kremer needs a pep talk from Kevin Costner. "Stay Cocky, even when you're getting lit up"....something to that extent.
My opinion? (I heard that) .... Keep running the youngster(s) out there as long as the arm is feeling good. Let him(them) learn what it's like to play ball in a park with beckoningly short porches. My understanding is that it's a lot easier to keep the ball in the park in Norfolk than it is at Oriole Park. So what is to learn by playing down the coast?
Face it boys, most any pitcher in the league would give up 2 or 3 taters a game when facing the Yankees at OPACY. The only answer is to produce a lineup wearing black and orange to match that.
Stay the course with Kremer. Norfolk has nothing to offer.
Go Os ...boycott the All Star Game
That is an excellent point Boog(though I'm sure it was twisted with sarcasm)---"stay cocky(Trevor Bauer) even in defeat".. Everybody seems so sullen after a performance and that includes our manager. Get some fire,get pissed. It might clear the cobwebs.
Agree, keep throwing Kremer and Zimmerman. Work through the growing pains. That’s what this year is for regarding these two guys. They need to learn how to pitch in the A.L. East, in opacy, and in and out of jams at the major league level. Only way to do that is handing them the ball every 5th day.
Totally agree...go O’s...
I third that sentiment. It’s part of the process
Many people say that the O's can't sign pitchers because the latter don't want to pitch at Camden Yards because they won't do well. The last two Yankee starters don't seem to have minded. Maybe who's trying to hit the ball means more than ballpark dimensions.
You point is well taken, but all other things being equal, the dimensions of OPACY make a huge difference. Not sure if free agent pitchers shy away from it, but none-the-less, witness Mike Ford's homer to left last night, that would have resulted in a 320 ft. pop fly out in just about any other park.
But yes ... the lineup DOES have to make contact with the ball for that to happen.
Thanks for the comment, Boog. In re Ford's homer, announcers also said that it would be an out anywhere else, but later said that a stat person had discovered it would have been a homer in 15 major league parks. Yes, we're all surprised. One thing I wonder about, though, is the correlation between hitting a home run and winning a game, especially at Camden.
I am surprised by that number. Did a little (very little) and was surprised by how many 330 left field line fences there are. Some even less. That being stated, and without knowing the numbers, I have to think the OPACY is smaller than the average park to most the fields.
I'm too lazy to do the leg work, but if somebody wants to enlighten me on comparisons with other parks, I'd love to read it.
As Palmer pointed out, Kremer's problem last night was not the ballpark - it was the way Kremer was pitching - grooving it down the middle of the plate, even on pitchers' counts.
O’s pitchers seem to nibble when they should challenge & challenge when they should nibble...go O’s...
Just cannot get my head around what we gained sending Kremer down, also do not understand why we hate
Cisco so much, so much to learn so little time
Keep the faith
We don’t, but someone does, maybe cause he’s not one of “his” picks...go O’s...
I’m not a fan of either catcher but Severino is hitting better then Cisco
No argument there, Sisco is catching better than Severino...go O’s...
New rule…. DH for the catcher!!!!
Hey why not, they’re changing the whole game anyways...go O’s...
As founder and Chair of the Severino fan club, I want to point out that Mr Severino had a “quality” at bat in the bottom of the 4th inning.
Signed,
Austin Wynns
:)...lol, too funny, thx...go O’s...
I now see the genius of having Urias on the roster.
He's a specialist .... make 3rd out of 9th inning of tied game .... take 2nd in 10th ... utilize speed to score and win game.
I could I have missed it?
Boog he now has two clients he represents Urias and Severino. Plus he’s in negotiations with Ruiz
Not worried about him.
I would have jumped on me just like he did for the butchery of that last sentence. None-the-less, I admire his amateurish attempt at levity.
Good to see BB’s version of The Mean Girls is thriving!
“The limit does not exist”
Or as BRR wrote above “I could I have missed it?” Gonna get you DFA’d BRR