Baltimore is 57-61. Minnesota is 57-59. And Monday night in Minneapolis, the Orioles will see a familiar face on the other side for the first time since the trade deadline: Dean Kremer, the pitcher they traded away just three days before this year's deadline, taking the mound for the team they're now chasing in the wild-card race.
The Orioles enter the series two games out of the final American League wild-card spot after avoiding a sweep in Texas with a 10-5 win Sunday, in which Pete Alonso hit the first multi-homer game of his Orioles career — a two-run shot off the left-field foul pole and another to left-center, part of a four-RBI day that pushed his season total to 25 home runs. Colton Cowser and Tyler O'Neill also went deep, and Yaramil Hiraldo picked up his first major league win with two scoreless innings of relief. It was the kind of offensive outburst Baltimore badly needed — the club had scored just 11 runs total in its first several games of August before Sunday's breakout.
Trevor Rogers gets the ball for Baltimore, carrying a 7-7 record and 4.20 ERA into the start. Opposite him is Kremer, who spent his entire seven-year big-league career with the Orioles — the last remaining piece of the 2018 Manny Machado trade with the Dodgers — before being dealt to Minnesota on July 31 for 18-year-old outfield prospect Jhomnardo Reyes. Kremer carried a 6.50 ERA with Baltimore at the time of the trade and has continued to struggle in Minnesota, sitting at 1-4 with a 5.93 ERA since the move. The Twins made the deal in part to bolster a rotation that had lost Pablo López, Mick Abel, and David Festa to season-ending injuries, and to push struggling right-hander Zebby Matthews out of the fifth-starter job.
There's no getting around what this series means beyond the personal storyline. Both teams are fighting for the same handful of AL wild-card spots down the stretch, and every game between two teams separated by percentage points carries extra weight. A series win either direction moves the needle in the standings; a series loss does the same, just in reverse.
Probable Starters
Baltimore Orioles: Trevor Rogers (7-7, 4.20 ERA)
Minnesota Twins: Dean Kremer (1-4, 5.93 ERA)
Where to Watch/Listen
First pitch: 7:40 PM ET at Target Field, Minneapolis
TV: MASN
Radio: 98 Rock (97.9 FM) and WBAL NewsRadio (AM 1090 / FM 101.5)