The Baltimore Orioles have clinched a winning record, but there is quite a bit more in mind for the American League East leaders.
They will try to keep plugging away when facing the visiting Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday in the middle game of a three-game series.
The Orioles (82-60) are guaranteed to finish above .500 for the third season in a row after a 2-0 win over the Rays on Friday.
They received an almost unexpected lift from right-hander Dean Kremer, whose status was murky going into Friday night after he was struck in the forearm by a line drive in his previous outing. Kremer dashed those concerns by taking a no-hit bid into the seventh inning.
Kremer, who wound up yielding two hits in six-plus scoreless innings, displayed the type of determination that could bode well in the big picture for the Orioles.
“Matured so much as a player, understands where we are, too, right now in our schedule and what we’re playing for, and also to be there for the guys,” Baltimore manager Brandon Hyde said. “I give him a ton of credit. A lot of guys would have asked for a few more days or sat this one out. He’s still got seams on his wrist. But yeah, he was determined from about that second or third day after he got back off the trip.”
Three relievers combined with Kremer on a three-hitter. The Orioles won despite producing only four hits, including two from shortstop Gunnar Henderson.
Henderson homered for the 36th time this season and the third time in September. He is 9-for-19 (.474) this month and seems to enjoy being back atop the batting order. Henderson batted third for almost all of August.
He said of batting leadoff, “Pretty much done it the whole year. So yeah, (Hyde is) just trying to get me going again and I’m just trying to help the team win. … I feel like I’ve been making strides in the right direction, kind of feeling out my body and I feel like I’m making the right moves right now.”
The Rays (69-72) have dropped four of their past six games, diminishing their AL wild-card chances.
Tampa Bay’s lineup, which produced only three singles on Friday, was without infielder Brandon Lowe. His availability isn’t clear going into the weekend as he is dealing with a finger ailment.
“We’re going to try to lessen his workload and his swings and see if we can get that thing to calm down,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said.
The Orioles will send out right-hander Zach Eflin (10-7, 3.60 ERA) to oppose his former team on Saturday. Since he was acquired from the Rays in late July, Eflin is 5-0 with a 1.95 ERA in five starts. In that span, he threw seven shutout innings on Aug. 9 at Tampa Bay.
In his latest outing, Eflin limited the host Colorado Rockies to one run on four hits and one walk in seven innings on Sunday. He struck out a season-high nine. Eflin is 1-1 with a 2.51 ERA in three career outings (two starts) against the Rays.
Tampa Bay has right-hander Ryan Pepiot (7-6, 3.76 ERA) lined up for the starting assignment. Since returning from a right knee injury in mid-August, he is 1-1 with a 3.10 ERA in four starts.
Pepiot took a loss against the Orioles on June 10, when he gave up four runs on nine hits in six innings. It was in his only career matchup with Baltimore in his three big-league seasons. Henderson and James McCann homered off him in that contest.
–Field Level Media