Dean Kremer dominates as Orioles’ bats come alive in 11-1 win over Reds to complete sweep

CINCINNATI — Dean Kremer took a perfect game into the fifth and allowed only one hit across six scoreless innings Sunday.

It might not have even been the best start the Orioles received this weekend at Great American Ball Park.

Like John Means and Cole Irvin before him, Kremer was superb Sunday to lead the Orioles to an 11-1 win and a sweep of the Reds. Kremer retired the first 13 batters he faced, and the only time he got in trouble, he stranded two runners in scoring position in the fifth.

The Orioles have allowed eight runs in their past seven games and only two this weekend.

The sweep is Baltimore’s third this season, while the club hasn’t been swept in an AL-best 102 straight regular-season series since May 2022.

Kremer carried the torch from Means, who delivered a signature start Saturday with seven shutout innings and eight strikeouts in his first start back from injury. Irvin started the series with 6 1/3 scoreless innings on just 72 pitches and 11 ground ball outs in Friday’s shutout.

The trio combined to throw 19 1/3 innings without allowing a run this weekend against an up-and-coming Reds team. Irvin, Means and Kremer surrendered just five hits and one walk while striking out 18.

Baltimore’s bats broke out in the first with three runs, including a two-run blast from Jordan Westburg. Adley Rutschman delivered two RBI hits — a double in the fifth and a single in the seventh. And Anthony Santander put a bow on the sweep with a grand slam in the ninth — the switch-hitter’s fifth long ball of the season and third grand slam of his career.

Converted starter Albert Suárez relieved Kremer and pitched 2 1/3 scoreless before Mike Baumann allowed a run while recording the final two outs.

Baltimore is 23-11 and still atop the American League standings. The Orioles have won four in a row and six of their past seven games.

They entered Sunday’s series finale, which started at 4:05 p.m. instead of in the early afternoon because of the famous Flying Pig Marathon in Cincinnati, with a difficult assignment against Reds left-hander Nick Lodolo. The 26-year-old southpaw carried a 3-0 record and a 1.88 ERA into his start as he begins to realize his potential as a former first-round pick. Against left-handed starters, the Orioles were hitting .237 with a .719 OPS — much worse than versus righties.

 

They didn’t waste much time reversing both of those trends. With two outs in the first inning, they rallied against Lodolo with three straight hits to take a 3-0 lead. Ryan Mountcastle hit a high fly ball down the left field line, but with Reds’ Spencer Steer shadowed to left-center field, the ball dropped inside the foul line. Statcast tracking data gave the batted ball only a 1% chance of landing for a hit.

Santander, who entered the game with a .200 average and .668 OPS as he endures an early-season slump, singled home Mountcastle to bring home the Orioles’ first run in the first inning on the road this season. Sunday was the Orioles’ 15th road game, in which they are 10-5. Santander’s OPS is up to .722 after his 3-for-4 day.

Westburg then lined his two-run homer to right field. The Orioles lead the majors in home runs this season with 54, and their eight hitters with the most plate appearances all have at least five: Gunnar Henderson (10), Cedric Mullins (six), Colton Cowser (six), Westburg (six), Rutschman (five), Mountcastle (five), Ryan O’Hearn (five) and Santander (five).

Around the horn

• Grayson Rodriguez (shoulder inflammation) played catch Sunday to begin his throwing program after being placed on the 15-day injured list last week, pitching coach Drew French said before Sunday’s game. French said the 24-year-old right-hander threw from 60 to 75 feet. The plan is to ramp Rodriguez up to throw bullpen sessions before his return. Whether he will need to go on a minor league rehabilitation assignment is unknown. French said the plan is to “take it slow” with Rodriguez’s recovery. “Great news,” the first-year pitching coach said. “Today was a really good day for him, and tomorrow will obviously be an off day. We’ve got a tentative plan right now, but ultimately it’s about him feeling really good on that day before and after he plays catch.”
• French did not have any updates on Tyler Wells. The 6-foot-8 right-hander was placed on the 15-day IL in mid-April with elbow inflammation and played catch for the first time Wednesday.
• The Orioles announced that aces Corbin Burnes and Kyle Bradish will start against the Washington Nationals on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively. The outing will be Bradish’s second this season after missing the first month of the season with an elbow injury.

This story will be updated.

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Orioles at Nationals

Tuesday, 6:45 p.m.

TV: MASN

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