Kremer punctuates comeback May with impressive effort in loss

BALTIMORE -- As Dean Kremer stepped off the mound for the final time in May, the 27-year-old Orioles right-hander was showered with applause from the crowd of 37,939 at Camden Yards on Saturday evening.

It was well-deserved recognition for Kremer, who just completed an impressive bounce-back month. For the past three weeks, he’s looked much more like the version of himself from his breakout 2022 season, rather than the one from his challenging April.

Kremer turned in another quality outing, allowing three runs in 6 1/3 innings against the Rangers, although the Orioles fell, 5-3, at Camden Yards. The result ensured Baltimore’s first series loss since it dropped two of three in Atlanta from May 5-7 and only its fourth of the year.

But Kremer kept the O’s in the middle contest of the three-game set, matching Texas left-hander Andrew Heaney in putting up zeros on the scoreboard for much of the day.

The only two Rangers runs that scored while Kremer was in the game came on a pair of RBI singles by Robbie Grossman (in the second) and Jonah Heim (fourth). The third run charged to Kremer came on a Marcus Semien RBI single off Bryan Baker in the seventh.

Kremer, who recorded a 6.67 ERA in six April starts, had a 2.45 ERA in five May outings.

“He’s really turned the corner,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “He’s doing this right now these last four or five outings -- it’s keeping us in the game, showing us the kind of pitcher he was the second half of last year, [while] facing good lineups.”

None more challenging than a Texas offense that has scored an MLB-high 327 runs this season. Yet, Kremer scattered five hits, struck out five and worked into the seventh inning for the second time this year, recording his fourth quality start.

Kremer’s been commanding his four-seam fastball (which is averaging 94.9 mph, per Statcast) well, and he’s had good movement on his cutter. He relied on both pitches against the Rangers, combining to throw them for 67 of his 97 pitches.

But Kremer attributed something else as the primary reason for his May success.

“Being strong mentally, for sure,” Kremer said. “Then, getting a feel for my stuff and kind of throwing it where I want. And then, going out with a plan and sticking to it and if we need to adjust, we adjust.”

For a Baltimore team that has been seeking more length from its starters -- “We’ve had too many starts of 3 1/3 [innings],” Hyde had said earlier in the day -- Kremer is doing his part. He hasn’t had an outing shorter than five innings since April 12, and he also hasn’t allowed more than three runs in a start since April 29.

“He’s attacking the zone, he’s throwing a lot of strikes with all of his pitches,” said O’s outfielder Austin Hays, who hit a leadoff homer in the seventh. “He’s getting ahead [of] hitters, and then finishing them with two strikes. It’s been really good to see how he’s thrown. He’s giving us a good chance every time he steps out there every fifth day.”

The Orioles’ offense couldn’t make Kremer a winner on Saturday, though. Hays’ homer marked their only run against Heaney, who gave up only four hits and a walk over seven strong innings. Baltimore’s only other two runs came on consecutive two-out RBI doubles by Ryan Mountcastle and Ramón Urías in the ninth against Texas lefty Will Smith.

Despite hitting nine balls at an exit velocity of 100.7 mph or higher (per Statcast), the O’s couldn’t have a big offensive showing a day after they were held to only two runs by Rangers pitchers in the series opener.

“I felt like we had good at-bats, were swinging at good pitches, put a lot of balls in play really hard on a line,” Hays said. “They were tracking down balls down there, they made some good plays. Just unlucky. I felt like we had a good approach and plan as an offense and kind of did all we could do at that point. We just couldn’t get anything to fall.”