O's can't catch up after early homer and lose to Cleveland in series finale

After he had thrown minor league rehab outings of two, three and four innings, the Orioles knew that right-hander Dean Kremer would likely not pitch deep into today’s game. But after the first inning today, he did throw well in his 18th career major league start.

But a three-run homer in the first on this sunny afternoon put him and the Orioles behind early and they could never catch up as they lost 3-2 to Cleveland in the rubber match game of this series.

The Orioles fall to 23-33 overall, to 6-4 in rubber-match games, to 2-4 on this homestand and to 14-15 at home for the season.

Second baseman Andrés Giménez hit 1-0 changeup to second baseman out of the park for his seventh homer of the year, and that three-run blast would put Cleveland ahead five batters into today's game. Kremer’s outing began with a strikeout before Ahmed Rosario ripped a 107 mph single, and with two outs, Owen Miller walked to bring up Giménez.

Kremer's changeup then found too much of the plate and Giménez drilled it 372 feet into the right-center seats for the lead as Cleveland improved to 24-25 overall with its fifth win in the last six games.

Kremer settled in nicely after the first and gave up just one hit over the next three innings. He needed just 36 pitches to get those nine outs. He gave up a leadoff single in the fifth, and after getting a flyout was pulled for right-hander Logan Gillaspie.

Kremer went 4 1/3 innings, allowing five hits and three runs with one walk and three strikeouts on 67 pitches, 46 for strikes.

The Orioles didn’t too much today with Cleveland's starter, right-hander Zach Plesac, who began the day at 1-4 with a 4.93 ERA. But Ryan Mountcastle’s big fly to right-center was a two-run homer in fourth and cut their deficit to 3-2.

Mountcastle blasted No. 8, hitting an elevated fastball with an exit velocity of 110.6 mph a distance of 437 feet. The blast pulled the Orioles within one, scoring Trey Mancini, who was hit by a pitch to start the Baltimore fourth.

The Orioles had not done much on offense the first three innings, as Plesac needed just 38 pitches to that point. But they had a couple of rallies later in the game without producing any runs out of them. In the O’s fifth, Rougned Odor singled and moved to third on Ryan McKenna’s double with no outs. But Plesac fanned Jorge Mateo and Austin Hays before Mancini’s 109 mph liner to left was caught to end the inning.

Plesac got the win, allowing four hits and those two runs over six innings, throwing 99 pitches and lowering his ERA to 4.72. Lefty Sam Hentges replaced him in the seventh, and was replaced himself after issuing a pair of one-out walks. Righty Eli Morgan came on to get two big outs. He got pinch-hitter Cedric Mullins on a popout and then retired Hays in similar fashion.

Through the seventh, the Orioles were 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position.

Adley Rutschman went 0-for-4 today as his average dropped to .137. He has just two hits his last 31 at-bats.

Cleveland right-hander Emmanuel Clase got the final three outs to record his ninth save. 

With a win, the Orioles would have taken the series and matched their 2021 home series win total. They went 5-15-6 in series at Oriole Park last year and are 4-4-1 in 2022. The Orioles are off Monday and host the Chicago Cubs to start a two-game series beginning on Tuesday night.