Orioles' Dean Kremer finishes his season strong in 6-0 win over Rays

Matt Weyrich, The Baltimore Sun on Sep 23, 2025

Published in Baseball

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BALTIMORE — Dean Kremer has been a stabilizing force in the Orioles’ rotation for four years now. The right-hander isn’t an ace and he has a history of starting the season slow, but Kremer churns out more innings than anyone on staff and at his best shoves as well as anybody.

On Tuesday, making his final start of the 2025 season, he shoved.

Kremer allowed one hit in 6 1/3 scoreless innings to help the Orioles (74-83) beat the Tampa Bay Rays, 6-0, on a rain-soaked evening at Camden Yards. Despite the start of the game being delayed 70 minutes by inclement weather, Kremer retired the first nine batters he faced before center fielder Chandler Simpson chopped a single up the middle for the lone hit against him.

Colton Cowser launched a two-run home run for his 16th long ball of the season, Gunnar Henderson collected a pair of RBIs and both Coby Mayo and Jordan Westburg enjoyed multi-hit games to pace the offense, which chased Tampa Bay starter Ryan Pepiot after three innings.

But it was Kremer, who finished the season with a 4.23 ERA in 30 games (29 starts), leading the way as he induced 11 whiffs and kept the ball off the Rays’ barrels. Interim manager Tony Mansolino sent him back out for the seventh at 85 pitches and he struck out second baseman Brandon Lowe before plunking third baseman Junior Caminero on his final pitch.

The announced crowd of 15,267 then gave Kremer a standing ovation as he walked off the mound, a ceremonious ending for a player whose contributions might be easy to take for granted. Reliever José Castillo stranded Caminero at second base three batters later before Colin Selby and Yaramil Hiraldo put up zeros to help the Orioles secure their seventh shutout of the season — third fewest in MLB ahead of only the San Francisco Giants (six) and Colorado Rockies (three).

Baltimore jumped out to an early lead in the first with a rally that started with Jackson Holliday’s leadoff walk. Holliday moved to third on a double by Westburg and they each scored as Henderson hit a fly ball to the warning track for a sacrifice fly and Tyler O’Neill brought Westburg home on a groundout.

Henderson tacked on another run on an RBI single in the third and Westburg’s sacrifice fly two innings later gave the Orioles a four-run cushion. Cowser then broke the game open in the fifth, going left-on-left and driving the ball 426 feet to straightaway center field. His 16 homers tied Henderson for the second most on the team behind Holliday (17).

The Orioles did endure a small injury scare in the sixth when Samuel Basallo was hit in the elbow by a 90.4-mph sinker from Rays left-hander Ian Seymour but, after a visit from trainer Scott Barringer, took his base and remained in the game at designated hitter.

Instant analysis

Before the game, Mansolino announced that Baltimore wouldn’t be reinstating catcher Gary Sánchez from the injured list over the season’s final week. That signaled a likely offseason exit for the veteran backstop, who joined the club on a one-year, $8.5 million deal over the offseason but played just 29 games because of injuries.

It was also a vote of confidence in fellow catcher Alex Jackson, who was out of options and would’ve been subject to waivers had the Orioles replaced him on the active roster. He’s hit .229 with five home runs and a .788 OPS while grading out well defensively in what has become an audition for the Orioles’ third catcher spot behind Adley Rutschman and Samuel Basallo.

Baltimore is expected to carry three catchers next season and the 29-year-old offers a solid glove-first option who won’t cost the club very much. He’s entering arbitration for the first time this offseason and will be under team control through the 2028 season. Rutschman, meanwhile, is due for a raise in his second year of arbitration after making $5.5 million in 2025 and Basallo will be owed $1.625 million in the first year of his new extension.

On deck

Tyler Wells has been fantastic in his return from 2024 elbow surgery. The right-hander put up a 2.04 ERA over his first three starts and he’ll get one final outing against the Rays on Tuesday to close out his year. Between his rehabilitation assignment and time in the majors, Wells is on track to finish the season right around 50 innings pitched.