Kremer Cruises In Return From IL To Stop Orioles Losing Streak

Starter Dean Kremer returned from a lengthy absence to snap a four-game skid, but closer Ryan Helsley has elbow problems

April 6, 2009; Baltimore, MD, USA; The Baltimore Orioles mascot runs onto the field prior to the Orioles Opening Day game against New York Yankees at Camden Yards. The Orioles won 10-5. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Orioles managed not to fall 10-games below .500 on Wednesday afternoon.

Midway through the game, as they were being no-hit by a bad starting pitcher just coming off the Injured List, it appeared they were. Baltimore starter Dean Kremer kept them in the game with a stellar return from an extended stint on the IL, and they put up four runs in the fifth and won, 6-1, on a sweltering afternoon at Camden Yards.

Of course, the Orioles could have “quit,” as Craig Albernaz tends to remind us three to four days a week and instead they “fought” as they do just enough to stay out of the cellar of the AL East, for now, but even this win came at a price. Closer Ryan Helsley, who was bad all of last season and wreaked of another terrible signing for inept baseball czar Mike Elias and has managed to throw just 15 1/3 innings all season, could not enter the game in the 9th to get some work, sitting in the dugout and holding his right elbow.

“He called down and said he was having some elbow discomfort,” Albernaz said after the game, later adding, “my level of concern is always high.”

That was the lone blemish on this afternoon.

Albernaz couldn’t wait to tell you all about his team playing “clean” baseball because it’s become a cause célèbres when they don’t make colossal mistakes in the field or on the basepaths (garbage baseball, I guess Craig would call it). So they salvaged a 2-4 homestand against rebuilding franchises with young managers who have passed them by (Nationals and White Sox) which was highlighted by Albernaz and Elias taking turns gaslighting their fanbases with mind-numbing public discourse.

Kremer was the story, lighting up the strike zone, moving efficiently, giving up a homer on his second pitch of the game and then cruising through a Chicago lineup that had been pounding the O’s. Kremer threw 87 pitches and 60 were strikes, and he picked up generally where he left off after a nice start to the season. Kremer allowed just four hits and walked one through six innings.

“Being on the IL for me, I feel like a waste of space,” he told reporters after the game. “I’m not bringing any value … That’s probably one of the hardest things for me.”

Albernaz said: “I loved his use of the curveball, especially early in counts.”

The Orioles sluggish lineup has wasted some gems recently and this would have an especially tough outcome for Kremer after being out several months. Tyler O’Neill, who made a big catch as well, actually homered off a lefty, which was supposed to be a specialty of his but not with Baltimore.

“Finally got a good one,” O’Neill told the MASN broadcast after the win.

Gunnar Henderson, who finally woke up at the plate after being moved to the leadoff spot this series, singled in a run as did Adley Rutschman. Blaze Alexander continued his tear since April 28 with a run-scoring triple and Leody Taveras added a homer in the eighth.

The Orioles finish the first-half of the season at the Reds ad Royals. Baltimore is 16-25 on the road.

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