O's limping as AL East race becomes a sprint

DENVER -- When the Orioles left Coors Field on Saturday night, they were walking away from more than the ballpark. They were also walking away from August -- and gladly.

Baltimore went 13-15 during the month, which came to a close with a 7-5 loss to the Rockies that saw starting pitcher Dean Kremer and third baseman Ramón Urías exit prematurely with injuries.

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Baltimore was also unable to deliver the big hit it needed late, exemplifying the offensive rut the club has been in for much of the second half.

Kremer was drilled in the right forearm by a 103.1 mph line drive off the bat of Colorado’s Jordan Beck in the fourth inning. The forearm immediately started swelling up, and he was later diagnosed with a right forearm contusion. X-rays were negative, the team said.

Urías was grazed on the nose by a Ryan Feltner fastball that knocked him down in the fifth. Then, in the seventh, he sprained his right ankle when picking a short-hop throw by catcher Adley Rutschman as Ezequiel Tovar stole third base.

After the game, manager Brandon Hyde said the club wouldn’t know more about the condition of either -- and therefore a potential return timetable -- until Sunday.

“It was scary, too, to go out and see [Kremer’s arm] swelling up right away,” Hyde said. “We were fortunate that the X-rays were negative, but obviously it’s going to be a little bit for the swelling to go down.

“We’ll see how it goes.”

And therein lies the difficulty for the Orioles, a team that was 57-33 on July 7, with a three-game lead over the Yankees in the American League East. Injuries and a slowdown at the plate set in, and since then, Baltimore is 21-26, now 1 1/2 games behind New York in the division standings.

The Orioles will now have to see how it goes as the calendar flips to September. With the dog days of August in the rearview mirror, Baltimore knows a dogfight with the Yankees awaits over the final month of the regular season.

At least for now, they’ll likely have to do it without Kremer -- though Zach Eflin, who has a 2.13 ERA over four starts for the O’s since arriving via trade from the Rays, is slated to be activated off the injured list to start the series finale against Colorado on Sunday.

The Orioles also will have to do it without their best hitter in recent days. Urías entered Saturday hitting .357 with two doubles, a triple and four home runs over his previous 14 games.

“Very frustrating,” said Ryan O’Hearn, who had a .667 OPS with one homer in August entering Saturday. “Ramón has been, I don’t wanna say carrying us, but close to it. … Hopefully, it’s nothing serious and we’ll get him back soon. Get Westie [Jordan Westburg] back, get Mounty [Ryan Mountcastle] back. Zach’s coming back tomorrow.

“We have reinforcements on the way at some point.”

Among those expected reinforcements as rosters expand from 26 to 28 players on Sunday is the club’s No. 1 prospect (MLB Pipeline’s No. 9 prospect overall), infielder Coby Mayo. Mayo made his MLB debut on Aug. 2 but struggled in his first taste of the Majors, batting .059 (1-for-17) before being optioned to Triple-A Norfolk.

Mayo could see time at third base in the absence of Urías, as could Emmanuel Rivera, who replaced Urías there on Saturday.

And then there are the players O’Hearn mentioned, though they may be returning closer to the range of mid- to late-September. Westburg is recovering from a right hand fracture and Mountcastle is working his way back from a left wrist sprain.

The Orioles quickly addressed the hit to their rotation by signing veteran right-hander Adrian Houser on Saturday night. They also hope Grayson Rodriguez (right lat/teres strain) will return before the end of the regular season.

Whatever the active roster looks like by the middle of the month, every game from here on out could spell the difference between winning a second consecutive AL East crown or settling for a Wild Card spot.

“In the meantime, we’ve got to find a way to scratch and win games,” O’Hearn said. “ … We’ve got to have a little bit more of a sense of urgency. … That’s the goal: Show up tomorrow, win a game, win the series, take some momentum going back home, get hot in September, have some guys come back.

“That’s the plan. That’s all you can do.”