CLEVELAND\u2013What happened? The Orioles equaled a season high by striking out 16 times, and, according to MLB.com, set a franchise record when Pete Alonso, Dylan Beavers and Colton Cowser, their 3-4-5 hitters, combined for 11 strikeouts<\/p>\n
Alonso and Cowser struck out four times each in the Orioles\u2019 4-2 loss to the Cleveland Guardians before 20,783 at Progressive Field on Saturday night.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s what, eight of our strikeouts right there? Half of them?\u201d manager Craig Albernaz said.<\/p>\n
Gavin Williams struck out 11 in seven innings, allowing a home run to Leody Taveras in the fourth among the 26-year-old right-hander\u2019s three hits.<\/p>\n
Hunter Gaddis gave up Gunnar Henderson\u2019s home run in the eighth and struck out two. Cade Smith struck out Beavers, Cowser and Taveras in the ninth for his fifth save.<\/p>\n
\u201cGavin was on tonight,\u201d Albernaz said. \u201cAnd when they had the lead, they\u2019re known to have a really good bullpen with Hunter Gaddis and Cade Smith. But, yeah, they just couldn\u2019t see the breaking ball early enough to either make an adjustment or just hold off on it. Gavin had his stuff going today.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dean Kremer\u2019s second start began nicely. He didn\u2019t allow a hit for 4 1\/3 innings, and aside from a first-inning walk to Jos\u00e9 Ramirez, didn\u2019t allow a baserunner.<\/p>\n
Brayan Rocchio\u2019s three-run home run in the fifth ruined Kremer\u2019s start and gave the Orioles their fourth loss in five games. Rhys Hoskins walked with one out. Daniel Schneemann singled and, with two outs, Rocchio hit his third home run of the season.<\/p>\n
The Orioles (10-11) are 21-37 (.382) against Cleveland (12-10) since the start of the 2017 season. That\u2019s their worst mark against any team they\u2019ve played a minimum of 50 games.<\/p>\n
Bo Naylor homered against Albert Su\u00e1rez in the eighth to make it 4-2.<\/p>\n
The Orioles started slowly and didn\u2019t score in the first three innings against Williams (3-1). This season, they have a .181 average in the first three innings.<\/p>\n
The Orioles did have a chance to score in the third. With one out, Henderson singled, breaking an 0-for-11 stretch. Taylor Ward grounded to third. Ram\u00edrez\u2019s throw to second was wild, and the Orioles had runners on second and third with one out.<\/p>\n
Alonso and Beavers struck out to leave Henderson and Ward on base.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s wrong with the Orioles\u2019 offense? Alonso, who had three hits in the first two games of the series, is hitting .205 with a .672 OPS. Cowser, who is hitless in his last 12 at-bats, is hitting .178\u00a0 with a .469 OPS. Cowser has 8 hits in 45 at-bats, has three RBIs and hasn\u2019t hit a home run.<\/p>\n
Albernaz had four right-handed hitters on the bench in the ninth and wasn\u2019t going to hit for Cowser.<\/p>\n
\u201cColton, he\u2019s our guy, and he has to figure it out how he wants to approach guys and what he\u2019s trying to feel,\u201d Albernaz said. \u201cBut with Colton at the plate, he\u2019s dangerous. He\u2019s a guy where, if he\u2019s not feeling great, he can still get one pitch and do damage on, and that\u2019s something where we feel very confident in.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith all our guys, we kind of showed it yesterday, too, and in other games, where we look like our offense is stifling and then next thing you know, one inning later, it\u2019s a completely different offense. So with Colton, it\u2019s the same way.\u201d<\/p>\n
Henderson has seven home runs, 14 RBIs, a .213 average and a .789 OPS. He struck out twice against Williams.<\/p>\n
\u201cTough visual day, but hat\u2019s off to them,\u201d Henderson said. \u201cThey threw the ball well, and they didn\u2019t really miss over the zone. The one time they did, Leody took care of that. Yeah, they just threw the ball well.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Orioles had won five of six before losing four of five.<\/p>\n
\u201cI felt like we\u2019ve had decent at-bats,\u201d Henderson said. \u201cI know I can do a better job of getting on and getting the guys that slug behind me some opportunities to score some runs.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo that\u2019s something that I\u2019m definitely trying to do, is get on for them. And I feel like just get as many shots up as we can, in that sense, we\u2019ll put up a lot of runs. We\u2019ve just got to start scoring a little earlier.\u201d<\/p>\n
A bright spot for the team has been Taveras, who\u2019s hitting .368 with a 1.015 OPS. His strikeout against Smith ended the game.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s part of the game, part of the game,\u201d he said of the team\u2019s strikeouts.\u201dWe go out there, trying to do our best and some days it\u2019s going to happen like that. We\u2019ve got to flush and come back tomorrow and do the best we can.\u201d<\/p>\n
How was Kremer\u2019s night? Kremer (0-1) allowed three runs on two hits in six innings, walking two and striking out seven. In his first start against Arizona on Monday, he allowed three home runs.<\/p>\n
Each of the seven runs Kremer has allowed have been on home runs. Rocchio\u2019s homer was on a 93.6 mph four-seamer.<\/p>\n
\u201cOther than that, I think the outing was really good, went really well,\u201d he said. \u201cJust made one mental mistake \u2014 physical and mental mistake. But other than that, it was a really good outing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kremer could be second-guessed for throwing the four-seamer instead of a splitter.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just try not to abuse it. But just kind of \u2014 I was trying to go up and away, and missed up and in,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd he got to it, put a good swing on it. My plan was to go up and away with the heater and then go back to the splitter. But we didn\u2019t get there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Catcher Samuel Basallo was fooling with his PitchCom with just three seconds left on the pitch clock, just before Kremer threw the home run pitch.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe went through the sequence of what I wanted to throw, and I got to the four-seamer, and I said, \u2018yeah,\u2019 and came set,\u201d Kremer said. \u201cHe pressed another button because I don\u2019t think he saw me, maybe. And the time was running down, but I was pretty convicted in that was what I wanted to throw. He beat me there. Rocchio beat me there.\u201d<\/p>\n
What does it mean? The Orioles match up poorly against the Guardians, and they\u2019ve seen three excellent starts against them in the series.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s the word? \u201cI feel like a lot of guys are still getting their feet up under them. A lot of new faces here, so it\u2019s not like we\u2019re at full go. Still kind of a lot of guys feeling things out, and I think whenever we all get going, it\u2019s going turn to really good.\u201d\u2013Henderson on the team\u2019s offense. <\/p>\n
What\u2019s the stat of the day? 3. The Orioles have scored just three runs in the first inning in 21 games.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s going on in the minor leagues? Jackson Holliday was hitless in three at-bats in his first rehab start for High-A Frederick in the Keys\u2019 4-1 win over Hudson Valley.<\/p>\n
Juaron Watts-Brown allowed one run on five hits in three innings.<\/p>\n
Brandon Young threw 5 2\/3 hitless innings, allowing a run, walking two and striking out 10.<\/p>\n
Keegan Akin, who\u2019s rehabbing from a left groin muscle injury, allowed one run on two hits in 1 1\/3 innings.<\/p>\n
Dietrich Enns struck out two in a scoreless inning in his first rehab appearance. Enns is on the injured list with a left foot infection.<\/p>\n
Jud Fabian homered twice.<\/p>\n
Frederick Bencosme hit a grand slam, Brandon Butterworth and Anderson De Los Santos also homered as Double-A Chesapeake beat New Hampshire, 8-6.<\/p>\n
Infielder Cobb Hightower was removed from Single-A Delmarva\u2019s 7-1 loss to Fredericksburg because of left shoulder discomfort.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s next? Trevor Rogers (2-1, 3.04) will start against Joey Cantillo (1-0, 2.61) on Sunday at 1:40 p.m.<\/p>\n