Detroit rocked Orioles starter Dean Kremer for eight runs and scored in every inning it batted in a 14-0 rout of Baltimore in the second game of a three-game series Tuesday night at Comerica Park.
It marked the first time an opponent has scored in every inning of a completed game against the Orioles, in this case eight, in modern team history since 1954. Detroit didn't need the bottom of the ninth.
The lopsided loss - the Orioles' worst shutout defeat since 2004 - dropped Baltimore (52-56) to two-and-a-half games back of the final American League wild-card spot, just days ahead of the August 3 trade deadline, while Detroit (51-57) made up a little ground in the same race.
Torres Does It Again
All eight runs Kremer (1-4) surrendered - a career-high - were earned, including four from notorious Orioles-killer Gleyber Torres, who put Detroit up 5-0 in the second with a two-RBI double, then hit a two-run homer in the fourth to make it 8-0.
Dating back to his time with the New York Yankees, Torres is now hitting .297 with 24 home runs and 70 RBIs in 102 career games against the Orioles. He entered Tuesday 8-for-29 (.276) against Kremer specifically, with two doubles, a homer, and six RBIs in 33 plate appearances against the Baltimore right-hander.
Colt Keith put Baltimore in an early hole with a two-RBI triple in the bottom of the first. Kremer surrendered three runs in the second, one in the third, and the two-run Torres homer in the fourth — walking three and striking out four on 80 pitches.
“Definitely didn’t throw enough competitive pitches in the zone. That’s on me,” Kremer said. “I was behind in the count a lot, and so guys are aggressive on balls up in the zone and did damage."
It's been a rough few starts for Kremer, who had allowed 12 earned runs over his previous three starts against the Red Sox, Astros, and Cubs. "Dean's frustrated," Orioles manager Craig Albernaz said. "It's not the best version of him right now."
Bullpen Couldn't Slow It Down
Detroit kept adding on. Albert Suárez gave up an RBI single to Kevin McGonigle in the fifth, Josh Walker allowed a Spencer Torkelson sac fly in the sixth, and Torres added a one-out RBI groundout in the seventh for his fifth RBI of the night. Detroit finished with 19 hits.
Melton Silences Baltimore's Bats
Detroit's rising ace Troy Melton (6-1) — who has the fourth-best ERA in baseball since his May 24 season debut — looked the part. The 6-foot-4, 25-year-old righty surrendered just three hits, struck out five, and walked two on 92 pitches over seven innings, mixing his fastball with an effective cutter, splitter, sinker, and slider, and throwing 58 of 92 pitches for strikes.
"It's high-octane stuff," Albernaz said of Melton. "He was attacking the strike zone. He did a good job of blending the two fastball shapes and also the cutter and slider off that. He was on tonight. He was tough."
Jackson Holliday collected two of Baltimore's three hits off Melton. Catcher Yohel Pozo, in his first game as an Oriole, got the other.
Tromp Takes the Mound
It was such a laugher that the Orioles' other catcher, Chadwick Tromp, took the mound to pitch in the eighth. His 40 mile-per-hour lob balls nearly got him through a scoreless inning until Eduardo Valencia smashed a two-out, two-run homer to the left field seats.