Kremer allows 3 home runs in Orioles’ 11-7 loss to Tigers; Machin heats up

LAKELAND, Florida-What’s happening? Manager Brandon Hyde announced that Orioles starter Grayson Rodriguez had right elbow discomfort and will start the season on the injured list.

Reliever Andrew Kittredge will have arthroscopic surgery on cartilage in his left knee and will miss a few months.

Charlie Morton will start for the Orioles on Saturday when they play the Tampa Bay Rays at Ed Smith Stadium at 1:05 p.m. Morton has pitched three scoreless innings, allowing three hits in two starts. He’s struck out one. Zack Littell will start for the Rays.

Geoff Arnold and Ben Wagner have the call on WBAL/98 Rock.

On Sunday, the Orioles play split-squad games. Tomoyuki Sugano will pitch against Minnesota’s Simeon Woods Richardson in Sarasota while Thaddeus Ward will face Philadelphia’s Ranger Suárez in Clearwater.

The Orioles and Nationals announced they’ll play preseason exhibition games for the next five years. This year, the teams will play at Nationals Park at 1:05 p.m. on March 24^th.

Beginning next year, the teams will play two games, one at Camden Yards and one in Baltimore before the season.

What’s happened? Dean Kremer allowed six runs on six hits in three-plus innings as the Orioles lost, 11-7, to the Detroit Tigers before 5,665 at Joker Marchant Stadium on Friday night.

Kremer gave up a two-run home run to Gleyber Torres in the first and leadoff home runs to Spencer Torkelson in second and fourth. Minor league reliever Logan Rinehart allowed two inherited runs to score and two more of his own.

“I feel like I’m on track to be ready for five to six [innings] in the first game of the season,” Kremer said. “It’s spring training … it’s trying stuff out in counts you necessarily wouldn’t, or locations that you wouldn’t necessarily do during your season because it’s not a strong suit. Just getting a feel for what weapons you can take into the season and their locations.”

Hyde said: “I thought he elevated some pitches that got hit hard. I thought he threw some good splits, also, but a few bad pitches and they did some damage on him.”

The Orioles will miss Rodriguez, but Kremer has faith in the rotation.

“I think we’re going to be OK,” he said. “We’re fairly depthy as you saw last year. We went through the ringer in injuries, both pitching and position players and we still won 91 games. I know the end goal is the World Series. You’ve got to get to the playoffs in order to do that, and we were able to do that with what we had.”

In his second appearance this spring, Félix Bautista allowed a run on two hits, walking one and striking out one.

“It’s his second time out. It’s going to be an on-ramp,” Hyde said. “He hasn’t faced hitters in a long time. He wasn’t as sharp as he had been. I thought he threw some really good splits and we’re hopefully going to see him progress every time out.”

Brandon Young allowed two runs on three hits in two innings.

Samuel Basallo had a three-run triple in a four-run first.

“He’s 20 years old and he’s getting starts in major league spring training games,” Hyde said. “He’s got a lot of confidence. This is great experience for him. He got to catch Dean tonight, Bautista tonight. He probably hadn’t caught either of those guys ever, and to catch against a major league lineup [Detroit] had tonight. All these experiences are just going to make him better.”

Heston Kjerstad had two hits. Coby Mayo was hitless in three at-bats, and is 1-for-23 (.043).

Jordyn Adams hit a two-run double in a three-run ninth for the Orioles.

What’s up with? Vimael Machin had a ninth-inning hit and is hitting .526 (10-19) this spring.

Machin, a 31-year-old utility infielder, was signed to a minor league contract last November 13^th after hitting .401 in 85 games with Jalisco in the Mexican League. He hit .208 in 112 games with Oakland from 2020-2022.

The infielder said that Koby Perez, the vice president of international operations, called him to sell him on the Orioles

“Nothing better being back in the States after two years in Mexico,” he said. “That’s the reason why I was here with the Orioles.”

Machin compares the competition in the Mexican League to Triple-A, and said his best positions are second and third base.

“I can show that I can play everywhere, and I’m the type of player whenever they need me I’ll be ready,” Machin said.

Hyde knows Machin from several years together in the Chicago Cubs organization.

“Machin is having a heck of a spring,” Hyde said. “He’s one of those [non-roster invites] that’s playing on most nights, the back half of the game and doing something every time he plays. Really well defensively and getting a hit or two. He’s been playing outstanding.”

What’s what? Since shortstop Gunnar Henderson is out with a strain of the right intercostal muscle, the Orioles could need another shortstop to begin the season.

Hyde said the team might give Jackson Holliday a start at shortstop this spring, but Jordan Westburg may not get one. Westburg played his first game at second base on Thursday after being out since February 23^rd with back spasms.

Hyde likes the defense that Liván Soto and Luis Vásquez play at shortstop.  

What’s the word? “That’s why you have to have as much starting pitching depth as possible. It’s unfortunate with Grayson. We’re hoping for the best. We’re going to need more than five starters all year.”-Hyde on Orioles’ starting pitching depth.

What’s the number? 3. Kremer allowed three home runs. The last time he allowed that many was June 24^th, 2023.

“Sometimes I do the damage to myself, get myself in bad counts where I have to put something in the zone, and they hammer it,” Kremer said. “They are big league hitters. It is a part of the game. Usually, it’s a lot easier to swallow that way. You know that sometimes you wouldn’t necessarily do that or you trust your eyes and they let you down or picking pitches in certain counts you wouldn’t necessarily do.”

What’s the record? 5-6-1. The Orioles will play the Tampa Bay Rays at Ed Smith Stadium on Saturday at 1:05 p.m.