Tigers Shutout Orioles 7-0 in Sweep

Detroit Tigers Ace Tarik Skubal Dominant in Sunday Afternoon Rout

Tarik Skubal showed up to play baseball Sunday as he pumped the zone in 6 innings of shutout baseball.  Skubal struck out 11, only allowed 4 hits, with 0 walks.  The whole game Skubal worked his heat to set up his elite changeup.  Baltimore hitters struggled to get anything going against the stud pitcher, as he was able to get ahead in counts by attacking the zone early and often.

The 2024 AL Cy Young winner was able to execute his gameplan by changing eye levels of hitters.  His fastball and sinker averaged over 97 miles per hour all day, and his ability to locate his offspeed at the bottom of the zone allowed Skubal to mow down Baltimore hitters all day.  Coming into the day with a 2.83 ERA, Skubal lowered his ERA to 2.34.  The Detroit Tigers have a ton of elite pitching talent, and Skubal is the leader of the pack.

Brandon Hyde Offers New Look Orioles Lineup, Struggle to Get Going

Overall the Orioles hitters struggled to get anything going.  Brandon Hyde went with a lineup that allowed many key Orioles players to get a day off.  Adley Rutschman sat on the bench, Gunnar Henderson DHed, Cedric Mullins got a deserved day off, Tyler O’Neill took a seat as well, and Jordan Westburg didn’t play. 

The Orioles lineup did feature starts from Jorge Mateo at shortstop, Dylan Carlson in centerfield, Gary Sanchez behind the plate.  This game was an opportunity for guys on the bench to earn more playing time, and to give many guys rest in a key series against the Yankees.

Overall not many guys had good games, but there were some positives.  Jorge Mateo had one of his best games of the season.  His ability to put pressure on pitchers allows him to almost always steal at least one base if he gets on.  Mateo went 2-3 with 1 strikeout.  He had half of the Orioles hits, and added 2 stolen bases.  Hyde clearly is looking to create pressure on the defense and the pitcher to manufacture some runs. Mateo is one of the best in the business once he gets on the bases.  Look for Jorge to get more starts at SS, 2B, and maybe some center field (yes I know he is not great here), especially against left handed pitchers.

Other than Mateo the Orioles offense did not show anything promising.   Every Orioles hitter struck out. Four Orioles hitters struck out multiple times.  Heston Kjerstad struck out 4 times in 4 at bats. Overall this game was a big time stinker from an offense that just cannot get anything going.  Even with 9 opportunities with runners in scoring position throughout the day the Orioles could not even get one mark in the scoring column.

The Detroit Tigers had a few great plays in the field.  The highlight play of the day was when shortstop Trey Sweeney took a base hit from Jackson Holliday in the 3rd inning.

With a big series against the Yankees on the horizon.  It's pretty disappointing to see the Orioles come out so flat against a team that made the playoffs a season ago.  But they need to start stringing together series wins, and fast.

Dean Kremer Can’t Finish Strong Start Loses Second Consecutive 7-0 Shutout

Dean Kremer is not having a good start to the season.  The 29 year old righty has a 7.04 ERA on the season after the start on Sunday.  Deano gave up an early lead, and managed to limit the damage to 3 runs through 5 frames.  In the 6th Dean had to get pulled after two thirds of an inning of work, and on the hook for two earned runs.

Only allowing 3 runs through 6 innings would’ve been a pretty solid outing for Dean who’s looking to build some confidence.  But not being able to go a full 6 and also letting the Tigers get a couple more on the board to put the game effectively out of reach has got to be demoralizing.  Kremer is having a bit of bad luck when it comes to scheduling, as it's the second straight start he’s had to face off against an elite arm.

In Dean Kremer’s last start he faced off against Washington Nationals phenom Mitchell Parker where the Orioles also lost 7-0.

Dean will avoid a start against the Yankees this week, but will be looking to make his next start against the Kansas City Royals later in the week.  Hopefully a home crowd will energize Dean during a weekend series.

Orioles Swept for First Time in 30 Series

The Orioles hadn’t been swept in a regular season series since last July against the Chicago Cubs.  Under Brandon Hyde the Orioles have had a couple different streaks of series performance.  The 30 game streak shows the resilience to prevent losing in bunches, and the ability to fight for at least one game.

Between 2022 and 2024 the Orioles had a 106 sweepless streak against them.  That is good for the second longest regular season series sweep of all time only behind the Saint Louis Cardinals 125 series without being swept.  Hopefully the Orioles will be able to start a new streak like this soon, as the club is 10-17 with the second least wins in the whole American League.

New York Yankees Come to Camden Yards for 3 Game Set to Close April

The Baltimore Orioles will get their next test at home against the New York Yankees on Monday.  The team will have a quick turnaround after getting back from Detroit on Sunday.  With days off for key players, it's clear that the Orioles are focused on the team that’s currently first place in the stacked AL east.

The birds will look to get back on track against a team that has opened the season hot.  While three games in April may seem insignificant, both teams will know that these ones could count at the end of the season.  Yankees fans would be giddy at the thought that the Orioles could miss the playoffs entirely by a game or a few.

The Orioles need to get back to their winning ways, and fast.  A homestand against the bad guys could be just what they need.