Orioles 4, White Sox 2: Sox still can’t figure out Dean Kremer

After a rough opening start and a similar month of April, Baltimore Orioles starting pitcher Dean Kremer was still trying to find his groove entering Saturday against the White Sox. Coming off a scoreless outing against Boston his last time out, Kremer was still looking at a season ERA above 5.00. But the Sox are a team Kremer enjoys pitching against, as he tossed 5 2/3 scoreless innings in 2022 and allowed just one run in his last start against the Sox back in 2023. 

It was more of the same for Sox hitters against Kremer. Despite six hits, the Sox only scored once against Kremer and couldn't rally against Baltimore's bullpen in another losing effort, yielding the series in this showdown of the American League's worst clubs. 

Davis Martin got the start for the Sox, and needed just one inning to set a new single-season career high in workload. He was figuratively greeted rather rudely by Orioles second baseman Jackson Holliday, who hit a leadoff home run to put Baltimore ahead 1-0. Actual rudeness would come later in the fourth inning. 

Ryan O'Hearn, having a great start in 2025, roped a double to set the table. With two outs, Coby Mayo hit an RBI single to left field. White Sox outfielder Joshua Palacios' throw hit cutoff man Josh Rojas, but wasn't in time to prevent O'Hearn from scoring. However, Rojas wisely threw over to second base to catch Mayo in a rundown. Lenyn Sosa chased Mayo back to first and lobbed over to Miguel Vargas, but it was during the exchange that Mayo went out of the baseline to initiate contact with Sosa. 

First base umpire Adam Hamari made the correct decision not to call fielder interference and waited until Vargas tagged Mayo, ending the inning. When Mayo got up, Sosa approached him, looking for an explanation or some measure of recompense. That's when Mayo pushed Sosa aside, and the dugouts emptied. It was all for a show, as there wasn't much in the way of additional shoving between Sox and Orioles players. 

Down 2-0, the Sox finally got on the board in the fifth inning. Mike Tauchman doubled to center field and would later score on a two-out single from Andrew Benintendi. But in the bottom half, Baltimore grew the lead when Jorge Mateo hit a two-run homer off Martin, a high fly ball that kept carrying, putting the Orioles ahead 4-1. 

Kremer left after the sixth inning, putting up a final line of 6 IP, 6 H, ER, 2 BB, 7 K. Tauchman's double in the fifth was the only extra base hit against Kremer. Now facing the Orioles bullpen in the seventh, Vinny Capra started a rally with a leadoff double and would score off Tauchman's RBI single. Later in the eighth, manager Will Venable emptied his bench as Austin Slater and Edgar Quero recorded pinch-hit walks. Batting for Capra, Chase Meidroth had an opportunity to cut the lead but grounded into a force out at third base. 

The big difference in this game was the quality of hits. On 82 pitches, Martin went 6 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, BB, 3 K, but the Orioles hit two doubles and two home runs off The Dart. Meanwhile, the White Sox hit two doubles and six singles off Orioles pitching. 

Game Notes

• White Sox finish May 11-17
• Austin Slater made a sensational feet first sliding catch in the eighth inning to rob Ryan O’Hearn of another extra-base hit
• Mike Tauchman went 3-for-4 with a walk. His season OPS is now 1.017.
• Luis Robert Jr. went 0-for-5 with three strikeouts. His season OPS is now .563.

Record: 19-40 | Box Score | StatCast