O's game blog: The series opener and an AL East battle against Toronto

Coming off a three-game series sweep of Kansas City – their first over the Royals since the 2017 season – the Orioles host the only club they have swept three from on the road tonight. The Toronto Blue Jays are in Baltimore to begin a three-game series.

The Orioles beat Kansas City by a larger score margin each day, winning 3-2 Friday, 6-1 Saturday and 11-3 on Sunday to improve to 41-24. They are 17 games over the .500 mark for the first time since July 26, 2016.

The Orioles have won four in a row by a combined 26-9 score. After going through a stretch where they lost three of four series, they are now 7-4 over the past 11 games.

Toronto (37-30) is in fourth place in the American League East, 10 games behind first place Tampa Bay. The Orioles remain in second place and are five games out. Baltimore’s .631 win percentage is tied with Texas for the second-best in both the AL and MLB.

The Blue Jays went 3-1 against Houston and 1-2 versus Minnesota over the weekend, winning the last game of that series. Toronto has won eight of its past 11 games. And, since getting swept by the Orioles May 19-21 at Rogers Centre by a 20-10 score, Toronto is 12-8.

But while the Orioles are 11-7 versus AL East teams for the year, Toronto is just 6-15. The Blue Jays won their first two AL East series in 2023, going 4-2. But they have since lost their past four within the division, going 2-13, including the sweep against the Orioles. The O's have done the opposite, losing their first two AL East series and winning their past four, going 9-3 in 12 games. 

Right-hander Dean Kremer (6-3, 4.89 ERA) will make his 14^th start of the season tonight and start the series opener for Baltimore. He allowed six runs – a season-high – and nine hits over five innings last Wednesday at Milwaukee. But since May 5, over seven starts, he is 4-2 with a 3.57 ERA with 10 walks and 34 strikeouts in 40 1/3 innings, allowing a .750 OPS. The Orioles are 5-2 in those games and 8-5 in his 13 starts.

On May 21 at Toronto, he gave up one run and nine hits over 5 1/3 innings on a season-high 105 pitches.

Right-hander Chris Bassitt (7-4, 3.29 ERA) signed a three-year deal with Toronto in December for $63 million. He has had a strong season for the Blue Jays and has been pitching quite well especially since May 1. He is 4-2 with a 2.02 ERA in seven starts, allowing zero runs four times in that span. Wednesday at Houston he gave up just two runs over eight innings on just 81 pitches.

The Blue Jays are 8-5 in his games this year and he has not faced the Orioles in 2023.

While the Blue Jays were swept by the Orioles in their three-game set at Rogers Centre last month, they have gone 17-7 over their last 24 visits to Camden Yards, averaging 7.3 runs per game with a +56 run differential. Bo Bichette notched four hits and an RBI in the earlier three-game series vs. the Orioles this year (4-for-14). Over 49 career games against Baltimore pitching, he has batted .324 (66-for-204) with 12 doubles, 10 homers, 35 RBIs, and 20 multi-hit efforts (.896 OPS).