Strong week from rotation keeps O's atop AL

CINCINNATI -- The Orioles are in the midst of one of their best stretches of the season as they capped off a sweep of the Reds at Great American Ball Park with an 11-1 win on Sunday.

After taking three of four from the Yankees at home last series, one theme runs through this period, which has helped the O's take a one-game lead in the AL East: dominant pitching.

Baltimore has held its opponents to two or fewer runs in each of its past seven games, for a total of just eight runs. It's the first time they've had a stretch allowing two or fewer runs in a single season since they did so in eight straight from Aug. 1-9, 1980. The last time any MLB team surpassed this stretch was the Mets (eight games) from Aug. 6-14, 2022.

Dean Kremer became the third consecutive Orioles starter with a scoreless start, as the right-hander struck out six across six innings Sunday. He gave up his sole hit after retiring the first 13 batters he faced, walked the next batter and finished his night by retiring five straight, including striking out the side in the sixth. His start comes on the heels of southpaws Cole Irvin (6 1/3 IP) and John Means (7 IP) also blanking the Reds while permitting three or fewer baserunners each.

¡°A guy sees what a guy does the night before and you want to match it,¡± Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said. ¡°And right down the line, we've been doing that so far. We're on a good stretch of starts, and we¡¯re going to enjoy the off-day tomorrow and keep it going in D.C.¡±

The Reds could not get anything going all series, but this is still a team that was averaging 4.8 runs per game before hosting the O¡¯s. Baltimore allowed 11 hits all series, and only two went for extra bases -- one double in each of the first two contests.

¡°We¡¯re all big leaguers,¡± Reds right fielder Jake Fraley said. ¡°A pitcher doesn¡¯t go six or seven innings with one, two-hit baseball without hitting their spots. Guys are throwing really well and we¡¯re going up there and trying to give it everything we¡¯ve got. They¡¯re atop of the AL East for a reason.¡±

Kremer¡¯s success Sunday closely resembled what worked for the rest of Baltimore¡¯s staff this series. He put pressure on hitters by attacking early, racked up ground-ball outs to reduce damage and mixed all five of his pitches well to keep the Reds off balance. And when they did make contact, only four of the 13 batted balls were hard-hit (95 mph or harder), well below the league average of 39 percent.

¡°That's been the approach for the last couple of years,¡± Kremer said, ¡°kind of putting it together and having a weapon for every sort of hitter, whether it's north, south, east, west. I just kind of just plan a game and learn as the outing continues.¡±

What¡¯s even more impressive about this seven-game stretch for the Orioles is that six different pitchers have made dominant starts. Grayson Rodriguez tossed 5 2/3 innings of scoreless ball on May 1 before landing on the injured list with a sore shoulder, although he¡¯s begun a throwing program and shouldn¡¯t be out a considerable amount of time. Plus they still have Albert Su¨¢rez, recently bumped to the bullpen, who has been scoreless in three of his four outings this season after retiring all seven batters he faced Sunday.

With a bona fide ace in Corbin Burnes, and Kyle Bradish and Means back from the IL, the Orioles have rare strength and depth in their rotation -- potentially their best group in a decade.

¡°What this pitching staff has is a ton of versatility,¡± pitching coach Drew French said. ¡°The ability to beat guys in different ways and get three times through the order. That's a huge part of the conversation, especially over the last five or 10 years. We have guys that have different pitch types and different strengths, but their ability to do different things the second and third time through is what maximizes each individual guy.¡±