Dean Kremer came to play in another impressive outing on the mound, but the Orioles struggled again to put up runs, falling 4-3 to the Red Sox on Sunday afternoon at Camden Yards.

The Orioles knew that to compete with Boston’s potent lineup, they needed to limit mistakes and have a good day on the mound.

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Kremer was able to slow the Red Sox’s offense, and Baltimore even played some strong defense along the way. Kremer allowed three runs on five hits and one walk with three strikeouts in five-plus innings. Two of those runs scored after Kremer had exited the game.

“Encouraged by Dean’s start. I thought he threw the ball really well, liked his aggressiveness in his fastball,” Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said. “I like the way he threw for five innings, did a nice job.”

Through his first four starts in April, Kremer struggled to find his groove, posting an 8.40 ERA in 15 innings. However, Kremer has flipped the switch over his past two starts, allowing four runs on seven hits and three walks with seven strikeouts in 11 innings in May.

“Absolutely,” Kremer said about learning from his past starts. “My dad before the season and last season is like, ‘Don’t get too caught up in the start to start.’ This is a small blip, that can be a long career.”

Kremer came out of the gate with two strikeouts in the first inning. However, Rafael Devers’ home run in the second tied the game and took away the Orioles’ early momentum. Kremer regrouped and delivered three scoreless innings until being replaced in the sixth after allowing back-to-back singles to Marwin Gonzalez and Alex Verdugo.

“I'm trying to get better every start and pitch with the mentality of leaving it on the field,” Kremer said.

The Orioles have struggled offensively, especially when Kremer is on the mound. Kremer has a run support average of just 1.71 per game through six starts, fourth lowest in the Majors.

Baltimore, which had been 10-1 when scoring first coming into this series, dropped its second straight such contest.

“We had opportunities, but if you get four hits, you don’t expect to win the game,” Hyde said.

Much of Baltimore’s offense Sunday came from Ryan Mountcastle, who gave the Orioles a 1-0 lead in the first with a line-drive single to left to bring in Trey Mancini. Mountcastle also hit an RBI double in the eighth that brought Baltimore back within 4-3.

Mountcastle has struggled this season, with a slash line of .223/.250/.331, but he has begun to heat up in this series. He has five hits, one home run and three RBIs over the past three games.

“Getting a couple hits is always nice, but [I’m] just building up that confidence again and getting back to where I want to be. And I'm going to keep working hard, and I feel like it's starting to come into the game,” Mountcastle said.