Dean Kremer was the beneficiary of a lot of Baltimore Orioles’ runs today in the series finale in Kansas City. But while he had one inning with a couple of struggles, Kremer also held up his end of the bargain. Kremer’s line: 5.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 2 K.
The competitive stage of the game was over fast. Anthony Santander set the tone with a solo homer in the first. One inning later the Orioles went back-to-back with solo homer runs, one by Ryan Mountcastle and one by Rougned Odor. RBI-singles by Cedric Mullins and Austin Hays would run the lead to 5-0.
The Orioles also chased Kansas City’s starter Keller with two outs in the second inning. It’s refreshing to see the Orioles getting to an opposing starting pitcher like that. You know you’re dialed in for a good day when you chase the other team’s starting pitcher that early.
Austin Hays would ground into a force out in the fourth, scoring Cedric Mullins. Anthony Santander would add an RBI-single in the sixth, breaking the game wide open in the Orioles’ favor. Kansas City would also attempt a comeback in the bottom of that sixth inning, netting a run on an errant throw, and cutting the Orioles’ lead to 7-3 on a two-run homer by Dozier.
But if anything, those Kansas City runs inspired the Birds to keep going. They put two runners on in the seventh, and Richie Martin’s two-RBI triple extended the lead to 9-3. Cedric Mullins followed with an RBI-single, and the O’s led 10-3. Kansas City would smack two solo homers in the last of the seventh, an RBI-single in the eighth, and a fielder’s choice-RBI in the eighth. But the O’s ended up with the victory, 10-7. A more narrow win than we might have thought earlier, but a win none the less.
With the win, the Birds split the series in Kansas City. Kauffman Stadium hasn’t been an easy place for them to play over the course of the past few years. And in fact, Kansas City refused to let the O’s go into cruise control. So it was nice to see them turn it up over the second half of this series.
When the O’s head to Toronto starting tomorrow night, we’re told that there will be a few players who won’t be making the trip. Canada has different COVID vaccination requirements than does the United States, meaning that some players won’t be able to enter the country. So things will look a bit different for the next few days, and we’ll know which players are being affected sometime before tomorrow’s game.
The O’s now head north of the border for the aforementioned series at Rogers Centre in Toronto. Kyle Bradish gets the start for the O’s, and he’ll be opposed by Toronto’s Alec Manoah. Game time is set for just after 7 PM.
Birdland Crush 