When Dean Kremer took the mound Friday, the imprint of the seams from the baseball that came at him at 103.1 mph was visible on his wrist.
Just six days ago, he was hit by a comebacker in the fourth inning of his last start. His arm immediately swelled, a baseball-size welt visible as he exited the game. The swelling, much to the surprise of his manager, went down quickly.
“Yeah, it hurt, but what are you gonna do?” Kremer said.
By Tuesday, he was playing catch again. By Wednesday, he was throwing a side session. And by Friday he was flirting with a no-hitter. He pitched into the seventh inning, not allowing a hit in the first six, as the Orioles beat the Rays 2-0.
The Orioles didn’t need to use Kremer on Friday. With an off day Thursday, they could have skipped Kremer and gone to Zach Eflin on regular rest. But somehow, despite how bad Kremer’s wrist looked Saturday, the medical staff got the swelling down in less than a week.
Kremer assured his manager that he wanted — and could handle — getting the ball, even though his wrist was stiff. He was right.
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“He’s come so far since four or five years ago,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “Matured so much as a player, understands where we are, too, right now in our schedule and what we’re playing for, and also to be there for the guys. I give him a ton of credit. A lot of guys would have asked for a few more days or sat this one out.”
Kremer was quick and efficient through his first two innings, despite hitting the second batter of the game. A double play ended the first, and two strikeouts and a flyout got him out of the second on just 22 pitches. He walked a batter each in the fourth and fifth innings and faced long battles that escalated his pitch count.
In the sixth, Kremer got some help from Jackson Holliday, who is getting better at second base every day as he adjusts to the position. Holliday leaped to snag Taylor Walls’ liner, fully extending to make the play and getting a tip of the cap from Kremer as a thank you. Kremer ended the inning by getting Jonathan Aranda looking on a fastball sneaked into the bottom of the strike zone.
That, though, was when he ran out of steam. Junior Caminero hit a line drive to left to open the seventh, the first Rays hit of the day. Then Dylan Carlson followed with a base hit, and Josh Lowe reached first on a fielding error by Ryan O’Hearn.
With the bases loaded and no outs, Hyde came out to retrieve his starter. Kremer walked off with his head down as the crowd at Camden Yards gave him a standing ovation.
“The cutter was really good, good splits again, but really aggressive,” Hyde said. “Aggressive in the strike zone. Pitched great.”
From there, Yennier Cano got them out of the bind, getting three quick outs to end the threat in the seventh. Cionel Pérez took the first two outs in the eighth, and Seranthony Domínguez got the four-out save.
“He was impressive,” Cano said of Kremer. “We’re really happy with the way he pitched and really happy we were able to get the job done.”
The Orioles offense did just enough to get the win, Colton Cowser scoring on a Holliday sacrifice fly in the fifth and Gunnar Henderson hitting his 36th home run in the sixth.
