O's game blog: Kremer and Zimmermann start in doubleheader

The Orioles will send two rookie pitchers to the mound today as they host the Tampa Bay Rays in a doubleheader. This begins the last home series of the year for the Orioles, as the clubs will play five games in the next four days.

Right-hander Dean Kremer (1-0, 1.64 ERA) will start Game 1 and Baltimorean Bruce Zimmermann will make his major league debut as the lefty starts Game 2. Zimmermann will become the fifth Oriole to make his major league debut in 2020 when he takes the mound.

Since this is the makeup of a game lost in the recent series in St. Petersburg, Fla., the Orioles will be the home team for the opener, but will be the visitors and bat first in the second game.

Wednesday's 5-1 win over Atlanta gave the Orioles (22-27) a series win over the first-place Braves. The O's ended their 20 interleague games going 11-9. They are 12-16 at home and are 11-18 versus the American League East, including a 3-2 mark against Tampa Bay.

The Braves began the series in Baltimore leading the majors scoring 5.94 runs per game and leading the majors with a team OPS of .834. But over three games, they scored just seven runs on 24 hits with only six extra-base hits and went 2-for-23 with runners in scoring position. Keegan Akin got the win last night, the first of his major league career. He was making his fourth career start and faced a lefty in Cole Hamels who was making his 422nd.

Kremer has faced the New York Yankees in both of his starts. Over 11 innings, he has allowed just five hits (and a .135 average against) with six walks and 14 strikeouts. He has a WHIP of 1.000 and has not allowed a homer. The Orioles went 1-1 in his two outings.

Lefty batters are 0-for-13 with five strikeouts versus Kremer and Tampa Bay has eight left-handed batters in the Game 1 lineup. Right-handers are 5-for-24 with nine strikeouts against him.

Zimmermann is set to make his major league debut in the nightcap and the O's will need to make a roster move between games to activate him and get him on their 40-man roster. A fifth-round pick in 2017 by Atlanta, he was traded to the Orioles on July 31, 2018. Last year on the O's farm, between Double-A Bowie and Triple-A Norfolk, he went 7-6 with a 3.21 ERA.

Tampa Bay (31-18) is closing in on the AL East title. The Rays are three games ahead of the Yankees and lead the Blue Jays by 4 1/2 games. They just split a two-game series at Washington and before that split four games at Boston. The Rays are 6-7 in September. Over longer stretches, they are 12-7 over the last 19 games and 19-9 in the past 28. Tampa Bay has clinched a winning record for the third year in a row and for the ninth time in 13 seasons.

Lefty Blake Snell (4-1, 3.23 ERA) gets the Game 1 start for the Rays. For the year, he has allowed 34 hits over 39 innings in nine starts and has yet to pitch six innings. He has walked 14 and fanned 50 with a WHIP of 1.231, a 3.2 walk rate and strikeout rate of 11.5. The Rays are 6-3 in his outings.

Snell pitched 5 1/3 scoreless innings against Boston in his most recent start. On July 31, he pitched against the Orioles and yielded three runs in three innings, giving up home runs to Anthony Santander and Pedro Severino.

He was the 2018 AL Cy Young Award winner when he went 21-5 with an ERA of 1.89 and 0.974 WHIP.

There will be one game blog for both games today and tonight. So stay here with your comments both between games and for Game 2.

Be sure to tune in tonight to watch Bruce Zimmermann '13 make his major league debut with the @Orioles! #RDR @DonsNation @BaseballDons https://t.co/8eRJeBHKds

-- Loyola Blakefield (@LoyolaDons) September 17, 2020