O's defense stands out on quiet day for bats

BALTIMORE -- Any time they host the Yankees at Camden Yards, Orioles pitchers arrive at the ballpark with enough incentive to keep the baseball out of the air. The way their infield played defense behind them Tuesday provided even more.

Evidence came in the form of two sensational diving plays baked into the O’s 5-1 loss to New York, both dazzling backhand picks that took hits away from Yankees second baseman Rougned Odor. Maikel Franco completed the first, snagging Odor’s 97.2 mph screamer toward third in the fourth. Rio Ruiz was responsible for the other, pouncing to his right to glove Odor’s 103.6 mph one-hopper on the edge of the outfield grass in the sixth.

“The defense has been really great behind me,” said starter Bruce Zimmermann, who took the loss. “That's my game plan. I'll get strikeouts where I can get them. But for the most part, I trust those guys behind me to make those plays. So having those guys make those plays like that is confidence-inducing. I'm just going to keep pitching to the defense behind me.”

Along with Austin Hays’ second outfield assist in as many games, the plays provided highlights on a night Zimmermann endured his shortest start of the young season, surrendering four runs across 3 2/3 innings. The loss snapped the O’s four-game win streak against the Yankees at Camden Yards, dating back to 2020.

It came at the hands of Corey Kluber’s longest start in more than two years, and a triumvirate of solo home runs from Aaron Judge, Kyle Higashioka and Giancarlo Stanton. The O’s offense mustered little in return besides Franco’s run-scoring single in the fourth, squandering rallies in the sixth, seventh and eighth.

But the Orioles’ glovework kept them in the game enough to regret those missed opportunities, something they couldn’t often say when playing the Yankees over their past few rebuilding seasons. And it was the latest example of their defense stabilizing after some early-season struggles, even with reliable everyday shortstop Freddy Galvis sidelined with a groin injury. Playing Hays every day in left in Ryan Mountcastle’s place has been a big part of that, as has Ruiz’s quick acclimation to second base after Franco pushed him from third.

“I thought we played really well defensively for the second night in a row,” manager Brandon Hyde said.

Roster move
The Orioles are planning to bring right-hander Dean Kremer back from their alternate training site to start Wednesday, one day beyond the 10-day minimum since Kremer was optioned after his April 17 start in Texas. The plan was always to recall Kremer when eligible, as the O’s looked to take advantage of two off-days by briefly operating with a four-man rotation.

The club’s No. 7 prospect per MLB Pipeline, Kremer made the Opening Day rotation but struggled in each of his first three outings, going 0-1 with a 6.75 ERA in just 10 2/3 innings. Kremer lasted only three innings in his season debut against the Yankees on April 6, but he pitched very well against New York in his first two career starts down the stretch in 2020. He made one exhibition appearance at the alternate training site, allowing two runs in 2 1/3 innings against the Nationals’ alternate site team on Friday.

Right-hander Jay Flaa was optioned to the alternate site to clear space for Kremer, shortly after tossing 1 1/3 scoreless innings Tuesday in his MLB debut.

Flaa-less debut
For the 28-year-old Flaa, that debut came after a long climb through the O’s Minor League system and against unlikely odds. Baltimore’s sixth-round pick out of North Dakota State in 2015, Flaa became the 20th native of the Peace Garden State to appear in the big leagues. Three others are active: Padres lefty Matt Strahm, Mariners righty Erik Swanson and D-backs infielder Andrew Young.

“I got about 100 texts that I haven't read yet,” Flaa said. “So I would assume there were quite a few people back home watching, which means a lot to me.”

They watched Flaa retire his first batter, Higashioka, on a popout in foul territory and then work around two walks to complete a scoreless ninth inning. He induced a 5-4-3 double play from Stanton and struck out Judge swinging to cap the outing.

“He was setting them up with two walks to start the inning, then -- escape artist,” Hyde said. “That was obviously really cool. When he got behind the count, I was a little concerned. But to come back [and get out of it] … that was great.”

Said Flaa: “It was pretty surreal being out there. It was, obviously, a lot of emotions building up to that and everything. I wasn’t worrying about who was in the box. I had enough going on with controlling my heart rate. So it was more of an internal battle, just focusing on just playing baseball, the game that I've played my whole life.”