A frustrating one-run loss for the O's, plus farm notes

We've seen seasons when the New York Yankees batters had their way with Orioles pitching at Camden Yards.

This is not one of those seasons.

The Yankees were 2-2 at Camden Yards this year, scoring 17 runs in those four games heading into last night's series opener at Oriole Park.

And while they hit three homers last night - they had hit six in the previous four games - they only put up five runs. But that was enough to beat the Orioles 5-4 to start the weekend series.

The Orioles are going through a tough stretch and have now lost three in a row and six of the last seven games, falling to 16-22. They have won just five of 19 home games.

Of their past four losses, three have come by one run. They lost to Boston at home last Sunday 4-3 and lost to the Mets at New York 3-2 on Tuesday before Friday's one-run loss.

They took a 4-2 lead to the seventh, and then Travis Lakins Sr. gave up a pinch-hit, three-run homer to Gio Urshela as New York took a 5-4 lead. The O's failed to score after that.

Starter Dean Kremer had a third solid outing in a row. He gave up two runs - on a pair of Aaron Judge solo homers - over five innings and lowered his ERA to 5.81. He has a 3.38 ERA his past three starts since an April 28 outing when he allowed a career-high six runs over 4 1/3 innings versus the Yankees.

"I think it was pretty good tonight," Kremer said. "Made a couple mistakes to the wrong guy, and he's got enough power to do some damage. Overall, I think it went pretty well. Stuck to our approach and tried to execute it as best I could. Sevie (catcher Pedro Severino) called a good game."

Zooming with the Tides: Triple-A Norfolk manager Gary Kendall provided an interesting take when asked about the new six-game series in minor league baseball this year. Each week farm teams plays the same opponent Tuesday through Sunday, take Mondays off and then start the process over again.

The Tides began the season in Jacksonville and are in Charlotte this week. Kendall said that, beyond the baseball part of this, he and his team will get to experience some nice areas and cities with history like those two and later Memphis, for instance.

The Tides' Tyler Nevin said that, for the players, the six-game series can be challenging.

"It was weird playing against the same team, the same faces for six days," Nevin said during the Tides' zoom call Friday. "It's different, for sure. You see a relief pitcher maybe three times in one series. You see a starter - if they are on a five-day rotation - the first game and the last. But you know, it's a new challenge. A team will adapt to you quicker and know you better, so it's up to you to adjust quicker too. I think it's kind of interesting in how it plays out and learning to make those adjustments on the fly. Definitely different."

During that same interview yesterday, Kendall, in his 22nd year with the Orioles, was asked about promoting players to Baltimore. Something he has been a part of doing for many years, first as Bowie manager for eight years and now as Norfolk manager for his third season.

Kendall should be proud of his part in this and he sees the entire organization rising in talent level. It is, indeed, a rising tide.

"I think we've had some really good drafts recently, and our acquisitions, claiming guys and trading for guys has been certainly a plus," Kendall said. "You can see our lower levels and the success they are having. And not just in winning games, but when you eyeball some of these guys like the (Gunnar) Hendersons and the (Adley) Rutschmans and some of these guys, you can see the obvious talent.

"As far as seeing guys like (Trey) Mancini, (John) Means and (Anthony) Santander and those players - I'm just elated I was part of the process. Having been able to manage them and get to know them and help them along with a lot of really, really good coaches, just tickled to death at the success that they're having. And that they haven't changed a bit. They are the same guys.

"Before we left the alternate site, seeing Santander. He has had some big league success, but is the same guy and it hasn't changed his personality. He's very approachable for young players that we had at the alternate site. They are just trained right and wired the right way. We are all in this together. We are trying to provide the best players to go up and help Brandon and his club.

"I'm just happy to be part of this process. I think we have a great future of young players that bring a lot to the table. I think this organization is certainly heading in the right direction."

Double-A Bowie won again last night, beating Reading 11-5 as Patrick Dorrian hit a grand slam. The Baysox (7-2) are 4-0 in this series, scoring 35 runs.

Triple-A Norfolk is now 3-7 after a loss last night, while Single-A Aberdeen lost and is 7-3 and Single-A Delmarva won to go to 7-3.

So the four O's teams are playing a combined .615 ball at 24-15.