MINNEAPOLIS—In his first start against the Orioles, the team for whom he pitched for seven seasons, Dean Kremer threw the best game of his career.
He allowed only one hit, Jackson Holliday’s soft single back to Kremer in the fourth, in seven innings to lead the Minnesota Twins to a 9-5 win over the Orioles before 20,155 at Target Field on Monday night.
It was the Orioles’ fourth loss in the past five games.
It was the second start for Kremer since the July 31st trade, his first at home.
“His command was really good today. I think we had, [hitting coach Dustin Lind] counted, it was like five pitches that were over the big part of the plate,” manager Craig Albernaz said. “He did a good job of teasing us, teasing us the corner, and then a lot of strike-to-ball stuff and couldn’t lay off it. But he did a good job with command, and, yeah, he was really good today.”
Kremer (2-4) threw 89 pitches in seven innings, allowed the one hit, walked one and struck out seven.
“It felt really good,” Kremer said. “Came in with a good plan and executed it to our liking, and it went our way tonight.”
Oriole starter Trevor Rogers (7-8) struggled with his command and was pulled after 79 pitches, giving up two runs on four hits in four innings. It was his first loss since June 14th.
Austin Martin led off the bottom of the third with his third home run. The Orioles tied it in the top of the fourth when Gunnar Henderson, who led off the inning with a walk against Kremer, scored from third when Tyler O’Neill struck out and Holliday was tagged out in a rundown after trying to steal second.
Kaelen Culpepper’s sacrifice fly in the fourth scored Luke Keaschall, who had been hit by a pitch by Rogers. Keaschall moved to third on Brooks Lee’s double.
“I thought stuff-wise, it was moving the way I wanted it to,” Rogers said. “The velocity is the best it’s been in a really long time. It could have been a lot worse. I was glad to get out of some tough jams. It was just really sloppy command. All night, just really couldn’t get out of my own way. At the end of the day, I only gave up two and kept my team in at the best I could.”
Minnesota (59-61) pulled away in the seventh, scoring five runs. After Cam Sanders pitched two scoreless innings in relief of Rogers, Ryan Jeffers hit a two-run single against Rico Garcia, who allowed three singles and a walk to the four batters he faced.
Josh Bell hit a three-run home run against Grant Wolfram to make it 7-1.
The Orioles (57-62) scored twice in the eighth after Travis Adams relieved Kremer. Leody Taveras tripled with one out and scored on Coby Mayo’s double. After Colton Cowser singled, Mayo came home on Christian Encarnacion-Strand’s infield out.
Jeffers’ RBI double scored Martin in the eighth. Martin had his first career four-hit game. Royce Lewis’ single scored Jeffers.
Garcia was charged with four runs, Wolfram three.
How did Kremer feel about facing the Orioles? Kremer threw 89 pitches.
“Definitely using the advantage of knowing some of these guys and pitching to them, watching their at-bats for the last four years,” Kremer said. “But it’s a part of the game plan. It’s one of my strengths. And it’s a game of execution.”
He admitted that he was surprised by the July 31st deal, and enjoyed playing in Baltimore.
“Very. I loved every minute of it,” he said. “It’s an incredible city and atmosphere to play at Camden Yards. The guys are awesome, still. Some of my best friends are over there, which I’m excited to go see them tomorrow for breakfast.
“But I’m excited to be here. Orioles have a special place in my heart. They gave me an opportunity that I may not have gotten somewhere else. And until the last day, I’m glad to be an Oriole.”
Kremer joked with some of his old teammates after their at-bats.
“There was a couple of interactions with guys rounding the bases that either said something or I said something,” Kremer said. “That’s the fun part of the game. I wish I was a position player because I get to do that more often. But being a pitcher, you have to lock it in and sometimes I have trouble doing that, so I’ve got to stay focused.”
How was it facing Kremer? Ten days after the trade, Rogers thought it was strange to oppose Kremer.
“It was really, really weird seeing him in that uniform,” he said. “I gave him a hug before the game, and told him I loved him, best of luck out there and, unfortunately, he pitched really well. It’s just a tough situation in baseball. I love the guy. At the end of the day, we still want to win, but he pitched really well.”
Albernaz said he saw some different motions from Kremer.
“It looked like his glove side was higher than it usually was here, and then it looked like his release point was higher as well and threw a lot more four-seams, which we knew coming in,” Albernaz said. “That’s what he did his last outing against Kansas City, but he still had the cutter going and the split was still there, and he flashed a curveball when needed to, so that was a really good outing by Dean.”
The Orioles had some good at-bats, Albernaz said.
“Yeah, there were — we had some, we squared up a few balls,” Albernaz said. “We only had one walk on the day. Yeah, we just couldn’t get anything going. Like we said, we either hit it in the air to the big part of the field, or that was it, honestly. Dean did a really good job of getting weak contact by us and we didn’t have the answer for it.”
What does it mean? The Orioles won’t be seeing Kremer again this season. If he had pitched this well with the team, he probably wouldn’t have been traded.
What’s the stat of the day? 0-for-31. Henderson and Jeremiah Jackson are hitless in their last 31 at-bats. Henderson is 0-for-16, Jackson is 0-for-15.
What’s the word? “Kind of speeding me up, slowing me down, a ton of what Dean’s good at. I was lucky enough to, I guess, hit a dribbler to get there. But he did a good job.”-Holliday on facing Kremer
What’s next? Brandon Young (8-3, 3.43) will start against Bailey Ober (7-3, 4.45) on Tuesday night at 7:43.
Call for questions: Most weekdays, I’ll be answering at least one Orioles question. Please send yours to: [email protected]