The Orioles got another short start, and that sent them on their way to a 7-4 loss to the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday night at Target Field, their eighth straight defeat.
It’s their longest losing streak since an eight-game skid from August 12-19, 2019 and continued their woes against Minnesota. The Orioles have lost 14 straight to the Twins (19-29). They haven’t beaten Minnesota since March 31, 2018.
The Orioles (17-31) have lost 15 of 17.
Dean Kremer (0-5) allowed four runs to Minnesota in the second inning. One run scored on Jorge Polanco’s homer, another scored on Rob Refsnyder’s double, and two came home on wild pitches by Kremer.
Kremer lasted three innings in his previous start, when he allowed four runs in a 10-1 loss to Tampa Bay. He knows where he went wrong.
“The second inning, to be blunt. Things snowballed pretty quickly after the home run,” Kremer said. “I didn’t execute after that.”
Josh Donaldson’s fourth-inning sacrifice fly gave Minnesota a 5-3 lead.
Kremer gave up five runs on six hits. He walked three and struck out five.
“I think Dean, mentally, he’s OK,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “I think he’s frustrated. You see frustration out on the mound. I thought he really got squeezed early, I thought both guys did, [Twins starter José] Berrios, too. He got squeezed early, which really affected the game for Dean. I think he felt he really had to come to the middle part of the plate to get a strike. It’s not an excuse because I thought it was both sides.”
Cedric Mullins’ two-run single in the second against Berrios (5-2) gave the Orioles a 2-0 lead.
Pedro Severino’s double scored Stevie Wilkerson in the fourth, and the Orioles trailed, 4-3.
Adam Plutko pitched a scoreless fifth, and Keegan Akin allowed two runs in three innings.
DJ Stewart homered in the top of the eighth, his second in as many nights. He has four this season.
Ryan Mountcastle bruised his left hand when he was hit by a pitch in the sixth inning. Mountcastle left the game, and X-rays were negative. Pat Valaika came into the game to play second base, and Stevie Wilkerson moved from second to left field.
Mountcastle is questionable for Wednesday’s game.
“I don’t think you ever really know until the next day and see how it responds tomorrow,” Hyde said. “See how sore it is. It got him in a tough spot.”
For the second straight game, the Orioles played without Austin Hays, who has a tight left hamstring. He won’t play on Wednesday, and the Orioles might try to rush a player to Minneapolis for a 1:10 start.
“We’re considering some options,” Hyde said. “Hays tried to do some running stuff today. It’s still a little bit tight. He’s not going to be able to play tomorrow afternoon.”
Maikel Franco, Mullins and Wilkerson each had two hits for the Orioles.
The Orioles, who were 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position on Monday, were just 2-for-13. They left 11 runners on.
“It could be a mixture of things,” Mullins said. “It could be not being aggressive on pitches that we know we can handle, potentially chase some later in the count. It’s just a matter of continuing to learn from those situations and making sure that we take advantage when they arrive.”
Refsnyder had two doubles and a home run for Minnesota.
Berrios allowed three runs, two unearned, on seven hits in 5 1/3 innings. Taylor Rogers got a four-out save, his third.
“This is all a learning experiences for these guys — Kremer, Akin, Mountcastle — all these guys who don’t have much time up here,” Hyde said. “These are learning moments, teaching moments. That’s why they’re here right now. Now, it’s about making adjustments, adapting to the league, understanding what you have to do. It’s not an easy game to play at this level.”
Notes: The Orioles’ losing streak to the Twins is the fourth longest to a club in team history. … Dillon Tate, who’s on the 10-day injured list because of a left hamstring injury, pitched a perfect inning for Triple-A Norfolk. The right-hander struck out one and threw just nine pitches. … Jorge López (1-5, 6.00 ERA) will face Michael Piñeda (2-2, 2.79) on Wednesday afternoon at 1:10. … Mike Baumann retired only two batters in his first start for Double-A Bowie. He allowed four runs, one unearned.
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Following this debacle up with George, awesome, hopefully Wynns is brought up soon, watching Severino try to catch is painful as well, RISP needs tons of work, but so does everything else, oh well...go O’s...
I have to agree on the Severino statements. On that one wild pitch he basically walked to get the ball. I actually thought the runner might try to score from second. No doubt our pitching is challenging for him and for the team to be honest. Our guys are struggling terribly. Hard to blame this crap on Hyde or the assistant pitching coach ( Palmer alluded to the fact that since our pitching coach has been on personal leave the staff has struggled). Disappointed in some of these prospects that came on with a lot of hype. It is a learning process though and hopefully some of them start coming around. Wondering who might be called up to take Mountcastle’s place today as I doubt he will play?
Severino is lazy, his technique is bad, he plays like “ I know I’m the starter & that’s how it is”, like ANYTHING he does/doesn’t do will still keep him in the lineup, coaches/managers nightmare...go O’s...
He got a new contract just this year didn't he? 1 to 2 million ... somewhere in that range?
4th highest this yr, 3rd if you don’t count CD, Means just under 600k, Franco making more...go O’s...
Sorry, just over 1.8 mil...go O’s...
Kremer didn’t pitch great but also wasn’t helped by severino and his horrible catching. How do you play catcher and literally not catch? He tried to backhand a ball in front of him. At this point might as well try wynns or Cumberland. He has negative five defensive runs save. You can’t have that from a catcher. It’s like him and Sisco don’t even try at times defensively. Holt needs to hurry up and get back. He clearly gets the most out of our pitcher. Holmes is either not good or they don’t respond to him. As far as the offense the lineup consists of a bunch of 200 hitters. Stewart is terrible. He display his power for a couple of games then proceeds to do nothing. Mountcastle needs to be a bit more consistent. I think if they moved him up in the order and put him between Mancini and Santander he’d get pitches to hit.
Have a Snickers...
Not gonna pile on the Catching issues anymore(don't have to it's universally known now)but if it's not soon addressed by the Warehouse it will only give proof to the fact that they're "looking the other way". Hays bad decision to bunt,Mullins failing on his bunt attempt(seems to be slipping from his arsenal)--Mr. Hyde tell these guys to "knock it off" it's not working. Heard Palmer mention how it might behoove Means to watch Berrios and try a few curveballs and stop with the heat so much. Interesting.
No good veteran catcher is going to sign here with Adley waiting in the wings. It’s been said many times on this site before, I think even Rich addressed it. I agree our catching is bad but if Wynns or Cumberland were better, I’d have to imagine they’d be up here. It’s a black hole of a position right now.
Wynns is definitely better defensively and I think our pitchers would welcome the fact that he would be behind the plate. Kremer looked pissed last night after he struck that dude out LOOKING for the third out and then sees Severino chasing the ball . That’s little league stuff.
And who taught him how to frame pitches…? He looks like he’s got a yo-yo behind the plate
Again, his technique is bad & compounded with his laziness is a recipe for disaster...go O’s...
Yes it was painful after a solid 1st, things went downhill; once again though we were still in the game in the 9th.
Hustle award, note that Stewart runs out grounders hard; few of the others could use a lesson in the hustle department. One ball hit to left and Mountcastle appeared to just jog over to the ball.
Losing is frustrating yes, but how many games can we expect to win when we give up seven runs. Good pitching and defense equals a winning record. Especially with the low averages this year
The problem with this team, this year, is that management doesn't give a spit. We might as well all be talking about who that #1 overall pick in the draft will be. Remember ... it's a process.
Wow. I’ve been holding back on the Severino commentary but it’s been glaringly obvious he ain’t no big league catcher. No leadership, bad framing techniques, batting .205, way too many bounce-off-the-glove type passed balls and seems lazy and uninterested in hustling.
I will say he had a nice tag at the plate last night, but what does it matter.
Really pathetic.
Well, welcome to the "Sevi shouldn't be here club". I didn't watch a pitch last last nite because it's the same old thing. Apparently, last nite WAS the same old thing. I'm not just posting about Severino here. I am stunned at why management is not calling up Wynns or Cumberland. Hate to be trite, but "it can't be much worse." As far as the myriad of other O's woes, I've said my piece....hopefully they'll change sooner rather than later.
I do tend towards cynicism, but I’m truly not a “bash them” sort of person. I know we were supposed to be non competitive this year, and those low expectations are easy to achieve.
However, this stretch has been really rough to watch.
I am still holding out hope for the future and will remain optimistic.
Will always be a fan!
Hey ... it's time to give Sisco the ball for the rest of the year. I've been saying it for 3 years now, let the kid show if he has what it takes. I still believe he does. And as bad as his defense can be at times ... it would still be an improvement over Severino. Besides... what's the 'worste' that can happen ... that he'll contribute to obtaining the #1 draft pick next year? It's a process.
Drink Pepsi boys
100% agree...who knows what he would do offensively if playing almost every day, he has shown good offense in the past, his defense is better than Severino, especially if they’re not gonna bring up Wynns...go O’s...
100% agreement.
He was a highly-regarded infielder when he was drafted. He was unfortunate in that he got caught in a power struggle between the then GM and then Manager. Very bad luck for him.
He needs to show if he has the juice or not.
They owe him that much.
I thought Kremer was the gem of the trades, and thought he could blossom into a legit #2-3 starter. He's not looking like a legit MLB pitcher.
Time to discuss firing Hyde? This team is being punked day after day.
Agree, kinda, can’t make chicken salad outta chicken sh....crap...go O’s...
Still reading your columns, Rich, and your comments, guys. Just don't know what to add, except the O's remind me of the comment, "If we had ham, we could have a ham sandwich, if we had bread."
Seems like some of the natives are getting restless. Unfortunately, there is (much) longer road to travel before the fanbase begins to see many glimmers of hope.
- have to think that Elias will do something about the catching situation-i do agree that Austin Wynns would be a good call-up
- the starting pitchers have sparked the degradation and stress on the pitching staff. When your starters routinely can't go 5+ inning trouble will ensue
- it didn't help that Felix Hernandez got hurt
- the Minors are playing very well. everyone who is high profile is playing up to their abilities and maybe beyond
- Yusniel Diaz---where are you??? You at the bank counting your money again?? Get your behind out there and start contributing to your--and the team's future! Play like you actually want to be an MLB Ballplayer--he seems to have zero mentoring going on in his career..
- Opposing teams are pitching-around Adley in a big way....very poor form on their part
- Have been watching 2021 Mock Drafts for a year or more...looks like Jack Leiter and/or Kumar Rocker from Vanderbilt could actually be available when the Orioles pick fifth...that is a happy surprise to me.
Let's enjoy that we have a team to watch most nights and four teams in MILB to observe and root for every night except Monday.
Nobody has mentioned it but the other guy behind the plate last night was horrible. It's about time MLB took a stand and used the technology that is available and have the "machine" call balls and strikes. It's proven every day that humans are not capable. Use the damn "machine", it doesn't miss pitches! It's tough enough batting and pitching without the constant errors (missed pitches) of the umpires. USE THE DAMN MACHINE!
Totally agree with you.. they use the technology to review plays , why not just call balls and strikes too. No arguments with the computer.
Totally disagree. Why not simply replace the players with drones as soon as the technology is available?
This is a game played by human beings. It should be called by such as well. Just my opinion.
Agree w/Boog, stop the good old boys club of umps, if they ain’t good, get rid of them, seems like we’re trying to change the game sooo much, loved it better yrs ago...go O’s...
I never thought I would rather have a robo ump calling balls and strikes. But after watching most of the games this year, I agree it is needed. These umps just miss too many balls and strikes!!
Dear MASN
Please start broadcasting Bowie BaySox & Norfolk Tides ball games.
Come on....whataya say ??
I LOVE that idea!!! That might be the best comment I’ve seen onnthis site since I found it.
Great idea!
Brian, lots of hard-core Orioles fans would love to see minor league games on TV, but baseball games are expensive to produce, and to do a major league-type production for a minor league game would be a big money loser. There aren't many telecasts of minor league games around the country because the audience is so small. I would love to see them, too, but it's not going to happen.
Man Rich, even on a really hot day when I just got done mowing that cold water still didn’t feel good. Just kidding, I understand you’re simply telling us the truth. But how about this for an idea? Why not let Bowie play a couple home games at OPACY? For some of the guys on that team that will never make the big club it would be the thrill of a lifetime. I wouldn’t be surprised if more fans would show up for that than an O’s game. It’s not like it would be a logistical nightmare.
Dave, in the final years of Memorial Stadium, the Orioles had Hagerstown, which was the Bowie of its time, play a few games there, either before or after a game. I think it's a good idea, but would be expensive as a stand-alone attraction. As a noon game before a night game, it's a nice idea, but I think you're overrated the number of fans who would come. It's the hard core fans who go see the prospects play, or the parents with small children attracted by lower prices for tickets and concessions. But, it's an idea I can support.