HOUSTON — Dean Kremer has had his struggles the third time through the order this season, with the splits likely factoring into why Orioles manager Brandon Hyde aggressively went to his bullpen in the right-hander’s previous start Sunday at the Little League Classic. But on Saturday night at Minute Maid Park, with Kremer cruising into the seventh inning against the best team in the American League, Hyde extended the young pitcher’s leash.
Although the Houston Astros struck for their first run of the series in the frame, Kremer finished it with a double play, then got two more outs to guide the Orioles to a 3-1 victory and earn a series win in Houston that moved Baltimore within 1 1/2 games of an AL wild-card spot.
Kremer’s 7 2/3 innings gave Baltimore (67-59) its third straight outing of at least seven frames, the first time the club has had such a turn through its rotation since July 31 to Aug. 2, 2017, when Ubaldo Jiménez, Dylan Bundy and Jeremy Hellickson each went deep in a sweep of the Kansas City Royals.
After veteran Jordan Lyles worked seven innings in Thursday’s series finale against the Chicago White Sox, rookie Kyle Bradish gave the Orioles their deepest start of the year Friday by completing eight shutout innings. Kremer followed them by facing the minimum through six innings Saturday, with a single from Jose Altuve to open the fourth quickly erased on a double play. Altuve opened the seventh with a double and eventually scored on a single from Yordan Alvarez, but Kremer got another double play to erase Alvarez.
Pitching in the eighth inning for the first time in the majors, Kremer recorded the inning’s first two outs before Trey Mancini singled into center field for his first hit against his former club, prompting Hyde to bring in closer Félix Bautista for a four-out save.
Kremer and Bradish were each acquired as part of the trade return for a player Baltimore once drafted with a top-five pick — Kremer for Manny Machado, and Bradish for Bundy. In the past two days, they provided more starts of at least 7 2/3 innings than the Orioles had previously gotten in Hyde’s four-season tenure. In the past 11 games, the Orioles’ rotation has a 2.25 ERA, averaging more than six innings per start.
For the second straight game, all of Baltimore’s offense came via home runs. The Orioles were 0 for 11 with runners in scoring position in the series when Adley Rutschman, who caught both Bradish and Kremer, doubled with one out in the third before Anthony Santander took José Urquidy deep to the second deck in right field. Two batters later, Austin Hays sent a ball out to left, where Mancini watched it sail over his head and the wall.
