Notes on Kremer's start, Bautista's second relief appearance and more from Orioles-Tigers exhibition (O's lose 11-7)

LAKELAND, Fla. – Dean Kremer got in his work tonight, stretched out to 60 pitches. He’s healthy.

As the Orioles know, it could be a lot worse.

The Tigers hit three home runs off Kremer in three-plus innings, on an elevated sinker, fastball and splitter. He exited in the fourth with two on and no outs, and Logan Rinehart let both inherited runners score.

Kremer was charged with six runs and six hits with two walks and three strikeouts to leave his ERA at 9.00. He tossed three scoreless innings against the Phillies in his last start.

“Feel good, feel strong,” Kremer said. “Looking forward to continuing the buildup and ready for the season. I feel like I’m on track to be ready for five to six (innings) and first game of season.”

The rotation just lost Grayson Rodriguez to soreness behind his right elbow. Trevor Rogers (knee) and Chayce McDermott (lat/teres) reported to camp with injuries. Kyle Bradish and Tyler Wells will go on the injured list while rehabbing from their respective reconstructive elbow surgeries.

Zach Eflin is expected to start on Opening Day and Charlie Morton could climb to No. 2, the spot Rodriguez figured to occupy. Kremer might be third in the rotation if the Orioles stay in-house for Rodriguez’s replacement, with Tomoyuki Sugano and either Albert Suárez or Cade Povich behind him.

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

Kremer struck out leadoff hitter Trey Sweeney with a splitter, but Riley Greene singled and Gleyber Torres barreled an 88.9 mph sinker for a home run at 103.4 mph.

Colt Keith also struck out on a splitter to end the inning.

Torres is a career .300/.377/.573 hitter against the Orioles with 21 doubles, 23 home runs and 61 RBIs in 95 games. Kremer struck him out with a splitter in the third.

Spencer Torkelson led off the second by homering on a 93.1 mph fastball to reduce the Orioles’ lead to 4-3. He led off the fourth by homering on an 83 mph splitter to tie the game.

Kremer glanced at left field, turned and waited for a new ball. He faced two more batters, resulting in a single and walk, and came out.

“It’s spring training,” he said, “so like last time, it’s trying stuff out in counts you wouldn’t necessarily or locations you wouldn’t necessarily do during the season because it’s not a strong suit, or just kind of getting a feel for what weapons you can take into the season and their locations.”

The home runs can come from getting in bad counts and having to put something in the zone, and the pitch gets hammered. It can happen because this is spring training and batters might be attacked in a different manner.

“They are big league hitters, so it is a part of the game,” Kremer said. “But usually it’s a lot easier to swallow that way because you know that sometimes you wouldn’t necessarily do that. Or you trust your eyes and they let you down. Or throwing pitches in certain counts that you wouldn’t necessarily do.”

* Félix Bautista worked the bottom of the fifth inning tonight, topped out at 96.8 mph and allowed a run in his second exhibition game.

Next, of course, is checking how he feels Saturday morning and plotting his next appearance.

The pitch tracker never identified a fastball tonight, labeling them as sinkers. Bautista topped out at 96.8 mph and also hit 96.6 and 96.1 among his 22 pitches. Twelve were strikes.

The mix also included a slider and splitter. His velocity averaged 95.5 mph.

Torkelson led off the inning with a single, which was followed by a walk, infield hit, sacrifice fly, strikeout on a splitter and popup.

Bautista retired the side in order with two strikeouts in Monday’s debut against the Red Sox.

Seven of Bautista’s pitches tonight were used to strike out Trey Sweeney.

Here’s the breakdown:

95.2 mph sinker
94.9 mph sinker (single)
95.3 mph sinker
95.8 mph sinker
83.3 mph slider
85.1 mph splitter
95 mph sinker (walk)
95.5 mph sinker (infield hit)
96.8 mph sinker
95.1 mph sinker (sac fly)
85.9 mph splitter
96.6 mph sinker
86.9 mph splitter
85.7 mph splitter
94.7 mph sinker
96.1 mph sinker
86.2 mph splitter (strikeout)
84.3 mph slider
95.9 mph sinker
87.5 mph splitter
86.8 mph splitter
95.1 mph sinker (popup)

* The Orioles forced the Tigers into a pitching change with two outs in the first inning. Keider Montero was reduced to a cameo appearance until spring training rules allowed him to return for a scoreless second and third.

Jackson Holliday and Ramón Urías began the game with singles at 99.7 and 101 mph, respectively. Ryan O’Hearn struck out looking and Holliday scored on Heston Kjerstad’s single into left field.

Coby Mayo bounced into a force and Dylan Carlson appeared to strike out. He asked for a challenge, tapping his batting helmet, and the call was overturned. Montero missed low.

Carlson drew a walk, a reward for his keen eye, and Samuel Basallo tripled into the right field corner to score three runs. Basallo jumped on the first pitch, a slider, and cleared the bases.

* Rinehart was charged with two runs of his own in a five-run fourth. ... Andrew Navigato hit a two-run homer off Brandon Young in the sixth inning. ... Kjerstad went 2-for-4 and has raised his average to .292.

* The Orioles lost 11-7. They scored three runs in the top of the ninth. Jordyn Adams had a two-run double.

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

Hyde on Kremer:
“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 them.”

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