The past meets the present as Manny Machado, Padres beat Dean Kremer and the Orioles

SAN DIEGO — The Orioles don’t believe in bringing up the past.

The Padres, though, don’t seem to have a problem relishing in it.

Baltimore’s history is the reason Wednesday’s game between the Padres and the Orioles went down as it did. Manny Machado, selected by Baltimore third overall in the 2010 draft, was a homegrown superstar. He debuted in 2012 at just 20 years old, homering in three of his first four games, a stat that was displayed on the Petco Park scoreboard in the first inning Wednesday. In 2016, the last time the Orioles made the playoffs, Machado became just the second player to homer in each of the first three innings of the game. That information was also relayed in a graphic during one of Machado’s at-bats.

Two years later, as the Orioles began their rebuild, Machado was traded to the Dodgers for five players. Only one is left: Dean Kremer. That 22-year-old prospect is now a 27-year-old starting pitcher on the best team in the American League.

And, in the series finale between the Orioles and the Padres, the two faced off for the first time. Kremer got the best in their head-to-head battles, getting Machado to fly out twice and strike out swinging, but it was the Padres who took the game 5-2 to win the series.

“Definitely kind of a full-circle moment,” Kremer said. “It’s definitely weird being on the other side.”

Kremer kept the Orioles in the game, despite not being his sharpest early. The Padres scored three runs off him — all in the third – but Kremer retired the last 10 batters he faced. He departed after six with San Diego up just 3-2.

“In the third, I stopped the bleeding a little too late,” Kremer said. “The fourth, fifth and sixth, just kind of got in a groove and tried to eat as many innings as I could.”

The Orioles opted not to bring in reinforcements to their bullpen despite the stress it’s been under on this road trip, believing they could make it to Thursday’s day off without bringing in a fresh arm. While the offense didn’t provide any more run support, it was the relievers who put the game seemingly out of reach.

Shintaro Fujinami gave up a homer to Trent Grisham Jr., then a single to Fernando Tatís Jr. Cionel Perez took over from there, but a run scored on him in the blink of an eye. Tatís Jr. stole second, advanced to third on a throwing error from Perez, then stole home without Perez even turning around.

“He’s a very aggressive baserunner and very instinctual,” Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said. “You have to be a little bit more aware.”

The Orioles had only three hits against Padres starter Blake Snell and only five total. Runs have been hard to come by in the first six games of the road trip, and they have three more to go against Oakland before they return home.

“I think it’s middle of August. I think we are a little banged up,” Hyde said. “We’ve faced six excellent starters. Tonight I thought we were a little impatient on Snell early in the count”

danielle.allentuck@thebaltimorebanner.com