Orioles take major step with convincing win over Braves

ATLANTA -- Are the red-hot Orioles for real, or have they been the beneficiaries of a lighter early-season schedule against mostly sub-.500 teams?

Baltimore took the first step toward disproving that latter narrative Friday night at Truist Park. Because not even Max Fried and the formidable Braves could slow the Orioles’ momentum. And Anthony Santander had quite a bit to do with that.

Santander swatted a pair of homers -- including a grand slam during a seven-run seventh inning -- and drove in a career-high five runs as the O’s began their three-game weekend series in Atlanta with a 9-4 statement win. Baltimore improved to 22-10 and now has the second-best record in MLB, behind only American League East rival Tampa Bay (27-6).

“Honestly, I haven’t heard any talk about a soft schedule or a tougher schedule or what,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “I think we’re just showing up at the park, preparing extremely well, expecting to win, like our chances, and I thought we played really well tonight against a really, really good team.”

The Orioles recorded their 18th win in 23 games by tagging Fried -- who had yielded only one run in 20 innings over his previous four starts -- for seven runs (five earned) over six-plus innings. However, the southpaw had allowed only two runs through six via Gunnar Henderson’s RBI groundout in the third and Santander’s solo homer in the fourth.

During the seventh, Baltimore sent 13 batters to the plate. The first five reached base, beginning with Cedric Mullins’ leadoff homer that pushed the O’s lead to 3-1. Fried departed after his second throwing error of the night allowed Baltimore to make it 4-1, and Adley Rutschman walked to load the bases with no outs.

Shortly after the Braves turned to righty Joe Jiménez, Santander cleared the bases by again going deep for his first career grand slam, which pushed the Orioles’ lead to 8-1 and put the game out of reach. Mullins capped the scoring in the big inning by driving in another run with a single.

Hyde said the dugout was “one of the loudest it’s been” this season following Santander’s slam. Once the celebration had subsided a bit and Santander had taken a seat on the bench, right-hander Kyle Gibson came up to Santander and wrapped him in a huge bear hug.

“Amazing,” Santander said. “I think they were enjoying that homer with me. That was awesome right there.”

“We were jumping for joy,” starting pitcher Dean Kremer said.

On the other side of the pitching matchup, Kremer turned in a much-needed strong outing. After posting a 6.67 ERA over his first six starts -- five of which he’d allowed four or more runs -- the 27-year-old outdueled Fried by tossing six innings of one-run ball. Kremer scattered six hits and two walks, struck out three and mostly relied on his defense, which turned double plays to end each of his final two frames.

Despite his early struggles, Kremer has remained confident in his stuff, believing in his six-pitch arsenal to eventually produce better results, as it did during his breakout 2022 season. That happened April 18 at Washington -- when he threw 6 2/3 scoreless innings -- and again Friday, when his only run allowed came on a two-out RBI single by Sean Murphy in the first.

“It definitely makes it easier to sleep at night,” Kremer said. “It’s going to be a process over the course of the whole year and just trying to get better in every start.”

It’s also easier for Kremer to remain calm when he’s watching the offense put up huge numbers. The Orioles have scored five-plus runs in nine of their past 11 games and nine or more in three of the past four days.

During this stretch, Santander’s bat has been heating up. The 28-year-old was batting .205 through 22 games heading into this season-long 10-game road swing. Over his first seven contests on the trip, he’s 11-for-30 (.367) with four of the five homers he’s hit this season and nine RBIs.

“Just stay positive. Like I’ve said before, it’s a long season,” Santander said. “Coming to the field here every day with the right mindset, preparing myself to be able to compete. I’ve been feeling really good at the plate right now.”

As a whole, the O’s are feeling good. They should feel even better if they’re still playing this well once they get through this 22-game stretch against teams with winning records, which began Friday.

But nobody in Baltimore’s clubhouse believes there’s more pressure now than earlier points in the season. And the club won’t change that mindset.

“I just dedicate the win to the stuff that we’ve been doing all year,” Mullins said. “Sticking to our plan, going out on the field, playing aggressive, playing fast and just playing under control.”