Dean Kremer on his strong outing (Twins win 1-0)

They both took place under the Florida sun. But the difference between right-hander Dean Kremer's first spring outing and what he showed this afternoon in Fort Myers was like the difference between night and day.

Today he threw three scoreless innings on one hit, facing one batter over the minimum as the Orioles faced the Minnesota Twins.

Showing a fastball that on one pitch to his last batter registered 97.5 mph on Statcast and a cutter that got swings and misses, Kremer walked one and fanned three. He threw 47 pitches, 27 for strikes.

Did his fastball have more life today?

"I think the life was the same as last time. I just - mentally was probably the difference-maker," Kremer said. "I feel like I was definitely more locked in today and being really intentful with every pitch. As opposed to last time, when I dug myself in a hole and didn't get out.

"My plan today was just to attack the zone with everything, and I was most on the attack when I was using my heater."

Orioles starting pitchers had allowed at least one run in the opening inning in five of the first six games. But now their hurlers have put up a zero in the first inning three straight times.

Last Thursday against Boston Kremer allowed three runs over 1 2/3 in his first start, but today he pitched a scoreless first. He needed 19 pitches but retired the side facing four batters to begin his day. He got Max Kepler swinging at a cutter, and then Josh Donaldson singled to right and reached second on a wild pitch. But Kremer got Nelson Cruz and Jorge Polanco on fly balls to right field.

He faced a lineup with many Twins regulars today.

Kremer needed just 14 pitches and got the Twins in order in the last of the second. He ended his inning with a strikeout of Alex Kirilloff on another cutter.

Kremer got some help from catcher Pedro Severino in the third. Keon Broxton walked on a 3-2 pitch but was thrown out by Severino as he tried to steal second. Kremer then got the last two outs and fanned Kepler on a cutter to end his outing.

Now Kremer would like to take today's strong outing and build on it.

"The main thing is just being confident in my stuff and continue to pound the zone with everything and then from there move on to pitching to specific locations and pitching to specific batters," he said.

Kremer clearly has a leg up on some rotation candidates as the O's remember his ERA of 1.69 through three starts last year. But he's not focusing on that right now.

"My main focus is just go out there and pitch my game," Kremer said. "I don't want to think about that stuff until that time rolls around."

The Orioles and Twins are scoreless in the sixth of a seven-inning game. Each team has just one hit. Righty Kenta Maeda, who finished second for the American League Cy Young Award last year, threw the first three innings for the Twins and fanned four.

It's a final: The Twins beat the Orioles 1-0 in a seven-inning game. Minnesota's Miguel Sanó doubled in a run to break the scoreless tie in the seventh, but they finished out the inning. They won it, just not via a walk-off.

The Orioles have lost four in a row to fall to 2-6-1. But the pitching obviously was much better than in the previous three games, in which the club had given up a total of 32 runs.

Left-hander Bruce Zimmermann replaced Kremer and threw three scoreless before right-hander Conner Greene was scored on in the last of the seventh.

Zimmermann did not allow a run or hit. He walked one batter and fanned two. In two spring games he has thrown five scoreless innings with six strikeouts.

The O's went 3-for-25 at-bat today with 12 strikeouts. Cedric Mullins was 1-for-3 with a double and is now batting .389. Austin Hays singled in three at-bats and is hitting .385.