The Baltimore Orioles opened the final series before the MLB All-Star break with a 5-2 win over the Miami Marlins (42-51) Friday night. Despite a scheduled post-game fireworks show, only 22,213 fans showed up for the inter-league contest and reunion with former Orioles Connor Norby and Kyle Stowers compared to the over 35,000 who came for the Hawaiian shirt giveaway Tuesday night.
Instant Offense
The Orioles immediately broke from the gate with a leadoff double by Jackson Holliday. A Jordan Westburg single and a Ryan O’Hearn double followed, staking the Birds to a 2-0 lead.
Early offense
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Our All-Star
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In the third inning Gunnar Henderson joined the hit parade as he was the middle of three consecutive singles, one by Westburg and one by O’Hearn. O’Hearn’s single plated run number three and Ramon Laureano plated run number 4 with his double to center field.
Laureano knocked in Westburg for run number five with a seventh inning single.
In total, O’Hearn and Laureano combined for 5 hits, 2 doubles and 4 RBI. Westburg added 3 hits, scored 3 runs and knocked in 1 run.
Kremer Was Dealing Goose Eggs
Making his 18th start of the season, Dean Kremer (8-7) did not give the Marlins a chance to get any offense going. He tossed 99 pitches (64 K’s) over 7.0 innings and held Miami to 3 singles, while walking 1 and striking out 7. Kremer relied on his four-seam FB (40% of pitches thrown), a FB that topped out at 95.1 mph; he generated 13 swings and misses as well. The quality start was Kremer’s fifth of the season and marked the fourth time in his last five starts wher he has allowed 1 run or less. During that span he has allowed 23 hits and 7 runs over 29.0 innings (2.17 ERA) with 27 strikeouts and 6 walks; Kremer won 3 of those 5 games but more importantly, the team went 4-1 over the 5 games.
Andrew Kittredge did surrender a two-run homerun to Otto Lopez in the ninth before closing out the game by retiring the next three batters he faced.
Moving The Needle
The Orioles, winners of their past three games are now 7 games under .500, showing an upward trend. They are 6.0 games behind in the Wild Card race and are a mere 1.0 GB the Cleveland Guardians, the team immediately ahead of them; four of the six teams ahead of the Birds won Friday, keeping the team sixth in the Wild Card hunt. While the Orioles have won three straight, the two top teams holding a Wild Card spot, the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox, have won 5 straight and 8 straight respectively, essentially keeping Baltimore where they are.
2025 Record: 43-50
Next Game: Sat. 7/12 @ 4:05 pm vs. Miami Marlins