– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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BALTIMORE — Dean Kremer looked for all the world that he would not make the race to be fit for Friday’s start, and another trip to the injury list in 2024 was possible. Instead, Kremer took the bump to start the Orioles’ latest series, and he almost took the team on a trip to history.
Kremer took a no-hitter into the seventh inning, helping the Baltimore Orioles to a 2-0 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays inside Oriole Park at Camden Yards to begin a three-game weekend set. Gunnar Henderson hit his 36th home run of the season in the sixth inning, and three relievers combined to allow just one hit and strike out five in the last three innings to seal the win for Baltimore.
Kremer left his last start on Sunday in Colorado after taking a line drive off his right forearm, with the impact leaving ball marks that still are present on his arm. Despite the pain and still-apparent swelling, Kremer gave it a go … and almost gave the Orioles faithful a no-no, as he struck out seven and walked three in six-plus innings of work.
“I give him a ton of credit,” Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said. “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 year, he was determined from about that second or third day after he got back off the trip.”
Given the litany of injuries to the Orioles starting rotation, seeing Kremer spin of the best outings of his career allayed nerves that the rotation would get even thinner while in the middle of a pennant race. Not that the great start made him feel any better, at least physically.
“It hurt, but what are you going to do?,” Kremer said. “It hurt, and it’s stiff now, but it is what it is.”
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Friday evening’s game, with photos taken by DC-area photographer Michael R. Smith. After clicking on a photo to enlarge the picture, press the left and right arrow buttons on either side of the caption to scroll through the rest of the pictures that appear on the first page, Also, click on the numbers and/or arrow appearing immediately below the picture grid to load the next set of photos. There are 19 pictures in total.
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