KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Through the first two innings Friday, the Orioles scored twice as many runs versus the Royals than they did in two games against them in last season’s American League wild-card series.
The only problem was the result was the same: a loss.
Dean Kremer struggled to get swing and misses, his defense let him down and Baltimore’s bats couldn’t score in the final seven innings as the Orioles fell, 8-2, to the Royals.
After a third straight loss, Baltimore is 3-5 on the young season. The last time the Orioles were two games below .500 was in July 2022.
Manager Brandon Hyde said pregame that his team wasn’t thinking back to the disappointment of last October when their season ended with low-scoring, one-run losses to the Royals at Camden Yards.
“It’s really one day at a time. That’s the normal cliche, and that’s boring. But that’s really what it is,” Hyde said. “Last year is last year, can’t worry about that. It’s a totally new year, it’s a different makeup club. We just have to go try to win one game, try to win series.”
If the Orioles are going to do that, they’ll need to play sharper than they did Friday.
The Royals’ first run scored on a Salvador Perez double that should have been caught in the outfield. Left fielder Heston Kjerstad didn’t reel in the ball after perhaps losing the tall fly ball in the gray sky with rain pellets falling.
Kremer gave up two more runs, including one that was unearned on an error from Gunnar Henderson in the shortstop’s first game back from the injured list, in the fourth inning on a single by Maikel Garcia that gave the Royals a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.
Kremer, who was pulled with one out in the fifth, wasn’t able to get swings and misses against the aggressive Royals, garnering just five whiffs and one strikeout in his loss. Through two starts, the Orioles’ No. 3 starter has allowed eight runs in 9 2/3 innings.
Baltimore’s lone offense of the day came in the second inning when Kjerstad made up for his defensive mistake with an opposite-field RBI single. It could’ve scored two runs, but Jonathan India nabbed Tyler O’Neill out at the plate after O’Neill tried to avoid the tag standing up instead of sliding. Kjerstad later scored on a throwing error from Garcia at third base, giving the Orioles a brief 2-1 advantage.
After impressive relief outings from Gregory Soto (1 2/3 scoreless innings) and Seranthony Domínguez (two strikeouts in one scoreless inning), Cionel Pérez’s struggles continued as the Royals tagged him for five runs on three hits and a walk in the eighth. Through four outings this season, the lefty has a 19.64 ERA and 3.55 WHIP.
Instant analysis
The Orioles’ starting rotation isn’t good enough to overcome the type of defense the club played Friday.
Without an ace like Corbin Burnes or rising ones like the injured Kyle Bradish and Grayson Rodriguez, the margin for error in Baltimore’s starting rotation is thin, and that was proved true Friday as Kjerstad, Henderson and O’Neill all made mistakes defensively that cost Kremer.
Four batted balls against Kremer with expected batting averages below .240 ended with the batter reaching base, including the fly ball Kjerstad couldn’t reel in that brought home the first run and Henderson’s error that extended Kansas City’s two-run fourth inning.
In the fourth and fifth innings, Statcast gave O’Neill a 90% catch probability on a pair of fly balls, but he wasn’t able to catch either after getting poor jumps of a combined negative-21 feet. The conditions played a role after a cold day full of rain in Kansas City, and O’Neill wasn’t able to recover well enough after his bad jumps.
Hyde often touts his defense as having Gold Glove candidates all over the field, but it didn’t look that way Friday.
