Orioles Fly By Reds Laying Goose Eggs To Sweep Series

  

Dean Kremer continued the Baltimore Orioles starters over the Reds with a 11-1 win. The Orioles starters, Cole Irvin, John Means and Kremer did not allow a run in the series.

The Orioles swept the series with their fourth straight win. The Reds went the other way, suffering their fifth straight loss to drop to 16-18 on the season. The Reds scored just seven runs during the losing streak and just one in the Orioles series. 

"It's the nature of the game," Jake Fraley said. "It puts pressure on you. It puts pressure on you because you care. We have no choice to get through it. Tomorrow's coming. We're all big leaguers. A pitcher doesn't go six or seven innings of one, two hit baseball without hitting their spots. So guys are throwing really well. We're going up there and trying to give in every thing we've got. Tip your cap to those guys. They are at the top of the AL East for a reason."

The Orioles erupted for three runs against Nick Lodolo after two were out in the first inning. Ryan Mouncastle hit a high fly to left. Spencer Steer was shading Mountcastle too right field. The ball landed inches fair down the leftfield line. Anthony Santander singled with two strikes to score Mountcaslte. Jordan Westburg hit his sixth home run to the first two rows of the right field stands.

Lodolo retired nine batters in a row until he hit Ramon Urias with a pitch with two outs. Gunnar Henderson walked. Adley Rutschman doubled to plate the fourth Baltimore run.

The slumping Reds, who had four batters start the game under .200 with Will Benson right at .200, got their first base runner in the fifth. Christian Encarnacion-Strand singled after Dean Kremer retired the first 13 Reds' batters. Jonathan India walked. Kremer pitched out of it. 

Brent Suter entered to pitch in the sixth inning. 

Lodolo pitched five innings, allowing four runs on four hit. He walked two and hit a batter. Lodolo collected six strikeouts.

Ryan McKenna hit the top of the left field fence off Suter for his second home run, to increase the lead to 5-0. Urias doubled and scored on Rutschman's second hit and RBI came on a run scoring single. It is Rutschman's 15th multi-hit game, leading baseball.

Alexis Diaz was rusty and needed to pitch. He hit McKenna with a pitch and Colton Cowser delivered McKenna with a double. Urias singled. Henderson walked to load the bases with no outs. Diaz struck out Rutschman then turned it over to Emilio Pagan. Santander hit a grand slam with two outs. It was his third grand slam of his career. The home run was his fifth of the season.

Albert Suarez retired all seven batters he faced. Mike Baumann, like Diaz, needed the work. He walked Benson and Elly De La Cruz. Steer's bloop single loaded the bases. Jake Fraley's single scored Benson with the Reds second run of the series.

 "It was a tough series," David Bell said. "A tough little stretch for our team. It is going to turn around. We have good players. They do the right thing over and over. They do things the right way and that's how you know it will turn around."