O's game blog: Dean Kremer, O's try to end streak in Minnesota

Still looking for their first win since a week ago Sunday in Baltimore, the Orioles will try to put last night's brutal loss at Minnesota behind them when they face the Twins tonight at Target Field. The Orioles (17-30) have allowed 62 runs during a seven-game losing streak.

The seven-game streak is the longest since the O's lost eight in a row from Aug. 12-19, 2019. The club has lost 11 of 12 and 14 of 16 games. They have a minus-46 run differential during the 2-14 slide.

The Orioles 10-start stretch without a quality start ended last night when left-hander John Means allowed two runs over seven innings. He was in line to get his fifth win when DJ Stewart hit a go-ahead two-run home run in the top of the eighth, but the O's allowed six runs and seven hits in the last of the eighth.

During the loss streak, the O's bullpen ERA is 10.17 with 32 earned runs allowed over 28 1/3 innings. Over the past 21 games, the 'pen ERA is 6.43 as the season mark has increased from 2.81 in early May - which was fifth-best in the majors - to 4.45 now. That is the 12th-best ERA for a bullpen in the American League.

O's starting pitchers have an 8.13 ERA over the last 15 games. Baltimore starters produced nine quality starts in the season's first 31 games, but have just two in the last 16 games.

The Orioles have lost 13 in a row versus the Twins since a win on opening day 2018.

For Minnesota, that is its fourth-longest win streak against a single opponent in Twins history. The run trails one against Boston (17 wins; June 2, 1965-May 7, 1966), Detroit (16 wins; May 6, 2002-Aug. 1, 2003) and Tampa Bay (14 wins; July 21, 2004-Sept. 5, 2006).

The Orioles have lost six in a row on the road since May 11 to fall to 11-12 away from Oriole Park. They are now 5-4 in road series openers after last night and are 4-3-1 in road series.

O's right fielder Anthony Santander went 2-for-4 Monday night, extending his season-best hit streak to six games. He is batting .455 (10-for-22) during the run. Santander put the Orioles on the board with a double in the first inning, scoring Cedric Mullins, and he doubled for the third straight game, matching his career-best streak for the third time (also Aug. 11-13, 2020 and Aug. 17-19, 2020). In four games since returning from the injured list, Santander is 8-for-17 with four doubles, a homer and three RBIs.

Shortstop Freddy Galvis was 2-for-4 with a double, producing his eighth multi-hit game of the season. He has multiple hits in back-to-back games for the second time this season. He also did it April 16-17. Galvis has hit safely in 22 of his last 30 games dating back to April 15.

Mullins reached base three times in the series opener on a single and two walks. That marked the eighth time this season he has reached base three times in a game (last, May 3 at Seattle).

Stewart hit a two-run homer in the eighth, putting the O's ahead 3-2. That was his seventh career go-ahead home run, first in the seventh inning or later and first overall since the second game of a doubleheader on Sept. 11, 2020 at the New York Yankees.

Right-hander Dean Kremer (0-4, 6.35 ERA) gets the start for the Orioles in the second game of the series. The club is 3-5 in his eight starts, and he's thrown five innings or fewer in five of them.

While Kremer went 0-2 with a 8.40 ERA and .369 average against in four April starts, he is 0-2 with a 4.74 ERA and .230 average against this month. In his last start Thursday versus Tampa Bay, Kremer allowed four runs and five hits over three innings on 63 pitches.

Right-hander José Berríos (4-2, 3.91 ERA) will make his 10th start for the Twins. He has allowed 41 hits in 50 2/3 innings with 15 walks to 56 strikeouts. He has a WHIP of 1.105 with a 2.7 walk rate and 9.9 strikeout rate. He is 1-0 with a 4.50 ERA over his last three starts and Minnesota is 5-4 in his 2021 outings.

Best strikeout rate on the O's farm (minimum 10 innings, per Fangraphs.com)
17.44 - DL Hall, Bowie
17.12 - Kyle Bradish, Norfolk
15.30 - Xavier Moore, Delmarva
15.22 - Grayson Rodriguez, Aberdeen
14.40 - David Lebron, Bowie

Best walk rate on O's farm (min. 30 PAs)
34.2 - Anthony Servideo, Delmarva
30.0 - Dylan Harris, Delmarva
24.6 - Shayne Fontana, Aberdeen
24.3 - Chris Shaw, Norfolk
22.2 - Patrick Dorrian, Bowie