Latest Santander homer too little to save Orioles in 3-2 loss (updated)

ARLINGTON, Texas – The Orioles won’t begin the second half with a sweep.

Former Orioles minor league catcher Jonah Heim hit a three-run homer off Dean Kremer today in the fourth inning and the Rangers avoided an early crash to post a 3-2 victory before an announced crowd of 31,808 at Globe Life Field.

The Yankees lost again today to remain two games behind the Orioles in the American League East.

An offense that built 4-0 leads in the first and second innings the past two nights couldn’t hurt left-hander Andrew Heaney, who entered with 10 losses but also a 3.79 ERA. They went 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position and stranded five during his five scoreless innings.

Anthony Santander hit a two-run homer off David Robertson in the eighth after Adley Rutschman walked to reduce the lead to 3-2. Santander’s 27^th left him one behind team-leader Gunnar Henderson, and he totaled eight RBIs in the series.

A first-pitch knuckle curve didn’t stand a chance. Santander is in a zone, this ball traveling 407 feet at 106.6 mph off the bat.

Santander hit 13 homers last month and has four in his last four games.

"He’s a good hitter, man," Kremer said. "There’s not much he can’t barrel. It’s fun to watch."

Jordan Westburg singled with two outs, but pinch-hitter Ryan O’Hearn, playing with a bruised left knee, struck out. O’Hearn stayed in the game in left field.

Kremer made his first appearance in Arlington since Game 3 of the AL Division Series, when he allowed six runs in 1 2/3 innings and the Orioles were eliminated from the playoffs. He retired nine of 10 batters today after Corey Seager’s one-out single in the first, but he walked Wyatt Langford and Nathaniel Lowe in the fourth and Heim jumped on a first-pitch splitter for a 3-0 lead.

The ball traveled 400 feet to right-center field. Kremer turned to watch and bent forward with his hands on his knees and head bowed. The walks led to his start veering in the wrong direction.

Kremer was removed with one out in the sixth after back-to-back singles by Adolis García and Lowe. His 89^th pitch was his last.

“I thought Dean was good," said manager Brandon Hyde. "Two-out walk to Lowe hurt before the homer. I thought he had good stuff and just made kind of a bad pitch to Heim.”

Bryan Baker fielded a bouncer from Heim and started a 1-6-3 double play to complete Kremer’s line – three runs and five hits in 5 1/3 innings, the right-hander’s longest outing since leaving the injured list.

"Stuff has been pretty solid since I came back off the IL," Kremer said. "I like where everything’s at and the mix we kind of have going. Yeah, just lost it a little bit command-wise. The walks ended up hurting me."

Kremer wasn't interested in revisiting his playoff experience here.

"I don’t care about that," he said. "It’s not really relevant to what’s going on this season. It’s a new year, you know? It sucked the last time we were here, but it is what it is."

Baker retired the side in order in the seventh, with Ryan Mountcastle making a diving catch in foul territory for the first out.

The Orioles (60-39) stranded 15 runners last night and left Gunnar Henderson at first base today after his leadoff walk in the first inning. Austin Hays walked with one out in the second inning and Colton Cowser singled, but Heaney retired the next two batters.

Westburg made it to second base on a walk and sacrifice bunt with two outs in the fourth and Henderson doubled with two outs in the fifth, but the Orioles didn’t score. Manager Bruce Bochy came to the mound after the double with Heaney’s pitch count at 95. Heaney was allowed to stay in the game and retired Rutschman on a groundout.

Henderson wasn't in the original lineup, but Ramón Urías couldn't play due a sore neck and had to be scratched.

"He got a lot of work on it this morning and unfortunately couldn’t go," Hyde said. "Unfortunate I had to put Gunnar back in there. We wanted to give him a little bit of a rest day, but he played great. He played great defensively and awesome to see him get that double. Hopefully, Urías is back soon.”

Heaney has faced the Orioles twice this season and allowed two runs with 14 strikeouts in 12 innings. Both of their losses to the Rangers this season came in Heaney starts.

“I thought we did the same thing off Heaney last time. Not much," Hyde said.

"We drove a couple balls there early in the game. He’s got kind of a unique arm slot. Really throws the ball in to righties and we just didn’t do a whole lot offensively. Can’t really put my finger on it except we just didn’t swing the bat very well today.”

Cowser doubled off Josh Sborz with one out in the seventh and didn’t budge, making the Orioles 0-for-6 with RISP after going 3-for-13 last night.

The Orioles totaled 17 runs in the first two games of the series and were shut out today through seven innings.

“That’s baseball, right?” co-hitting coach Matt Borgschulte said this morning when asked about the bats going from cold to hot. “There’s gonna be struggles no matter how good you are. There’s gonna be times where you face a stretch of really tough pitchers and you do really well. There’s a time when you’re gonna face a stretch of pitchers that aren’t as good and you still struggle. That’s just part of the game.”

Today's loss didn't ruin the series. The Orioles won two out of three. They'll take it.

"Yeah, absolutely," Kremer said. "I think June was a rough month for us. All of us were trying to catch our breath. We had one of the tougher schedules there travel-wise and whatnot. I think the All-Star break was a refreshing break for a lot of us and kind of get our feet back under us and continue."

* Triple-A Norfolk left-hander Trey McGough tossed two scoreless innings today with two strikeouts in Game 1 of a doubleheader and lowered his ERA to 2.20.

Jud Fabian hit his 14^th home run for Double-A Bowie in a 7-1 loss to Hartford. Trace Bright allowed five runs and four hits with four walks in 2 1/3 innings.

Maxwell Costes hit his second home run for High-A Aberdeen after his reinstatement today from the injured list. Jackson Baumeister allowed one run and struck out eight batters in four innings.