The Baltimore Orioles avoided a sweep Wednesday afternoon at Oriole Park at Camden Yards as Dean Kremer pitched six sharp innings in his return from injury and Tyler O'Neill's homer sparked a four-run fifth inning in a 6-1 win over the Chicago White Sox.
Kremer (1-1) allowed just one run on four hits in his first appearance since April 18, when he was placed on the injured list with a quad injury. O'Neill tied the game at 1-1 with a solo home run to left in the fifth, and the Orioles broke it open from there. Blaze Alexander singled and Gunnar Henderson followed with a single off Bryan Hudson to load the bases, and Adley Rutschman hit an RBI single before Taylor Ward added a sacrifice fly. A wild pitch from Trevor Richards allowed Henderson to score, making it 5-1. Alexander added an RBI triple in the sixth, and Leody Taveras homered in the eighth to cap the scoring.
Sam Antonacci had homered off Kremer to lead off the game, giving Chicago a 1-0 lead, but the AL Central-leading White Sox managed little else against the veteran right-hander. Noah Schultz (2-5) no-hit Baltimore for four innings but retired only one more batter in the fifth before being pulled after the Orioles loaded the bases.
Baltimore optioned right-hander Trey Gibson and left-hander Josh Walker to Triple-A Norfolk before the game, reinstating Kremer from the injured list and recalling right-hander Cameron Weston from Norfolk. The Orioles are off Thursday before opening a series at Cincinnati on Friday night.