ATLANTA — Orioles’ interim manager Tony Mansolino said before Saturday’s game against the Braves that his top choice to join Ryan O’Hearn at the All-Star Game was Ramón Laureano.
The veteran outfielder backed up his skipper’s words with a go-ahead double in the top of the 10th inning to help Baltimore beat Atlanta, 9-6, and clinch a series victory on the road.
He raised his OPS to .851 with the hit, joining stars Aaron Judge, Byron Buxton and Riley Greene as the only outfielders in the American League with an OPS over .850 and at least two wins above replacement by Baseball-Reference’s calculation.
The Orioles (39-49) scored three runs in the 10th on Laureano’s go-ahead hit and a two-run double by catcher Jacob Stallings. Atlanta reliever Rafael Montero walked O’Hearn with first base open to face Stallings and the journeyman catcher delivered with his first Orioles hit to put the game away. Yennier Cano then earned the save in his second appearance since returning from a temporary demotion to Triple-A Norfolk.
Baltimore crushed 1,332 feet of home runs and held early leads of 3-2 and 5-3, but the game ultimately had to be decided in extra innings as Dean Kremer’s struggles away from Camden Yards continued.
Jordan Westburg (461 feet), Tyler O’Neill (445) and Colton Cowser (426) all left the yard in an impressive display of the Orioles’ home run power. Westburg’s homer, which landed in the Truist Park fountain beyond center field, was the farthest of his career and the longest of any Orioles hitter since Ryan Mountcastle went 472 feet against the Houston Astros on Aug. 8, 2023.
But the Braves blasted two home runs of their own courtesy of first baseman Matt Olson and third baseman Austin Riley. Olson finished a triple shy of the cycle, reaching base five times and driving in two. Atlanta barreled up Kremer early and tagged him for five runs, raising his season ERA on the road to 5.82 compared to 2.37 at home.
The Braves used an opener in left-hander Aaron Bummer and he cruised through the first two innings, but manager Brian Snitker pushed his luck. He kept Bummer in for a third inning and the Orioles chased him with the home runs by O’Neill and Westburg, two players who returned from injury together Friday. O’Neill’s long ball was his third of the season and first since April 12.
After a solo shot by Olson tied the game in the bottom half of the third, the Orioles punched right back on Cowser’s home run, a two-run left-on-left deep flyball to right-center field off bulk reliever Dylan Dodd. It was Cowser’s third home run this season to come on an 0-2 count, tied with Francisco Lindor for the second most in MLB behind only Manny Machado (four).
But the lead didn’t hold as Kremer barely managed to get through the fourth thanks to the Olson-Riley duo, which drove in runs on back-to-back hits. Riley’s double almost brought Olson around as well but Cowser and Gunnar Henderson combined to relay a throw from the left-field corner home in time to beat him to the plate to end the frame. It did come at a cost, however, as Gary Sánchez left the game with right knee pain following the play, replaced by Stallings.
The Orioles and Braves then traded runs on an RBI groundout by left fielder Jurickson Profar in the sixth and Jackson Holliday’s run-scoring single an inning later. That sent a 6-6 score into the eighth but Bryan Baker and Félix Bautista kept it right there to set the stage for Laureano and Stallings in the 10th.
Instant analysis
Kremer hasn’t had the lows of Charlie Morton or the injury troubles of Zach Eflin, but he has been one of the Orioles’ most frustratingly inconsistent starters in a season where they’ve desperately needed stability out of their rotation.
Coming off a start in which he blanked the Tampa Bay Rays over seven strong frames, the right-hander was knocked around early by the Braves’ lineup and six of the eight hits against him landed for extra bases. Kremer has been showing flashes of a dominant starter for years but he hasn’t been able to sustain it for extended stretches, particularly here in 2025.
The Orioles will continue to try to unlock the 29-year-old Kremer’s potential — they’re not exactly flush with rotation candidates in Triple-A — and hope he can settle into some kind of rhythm. It’s a position they’ve been in with him for three years now.
On deck
The Orioles and Braves close out their interleague series Sunday with an early 11:35 a.m. start time scheduled for the nationally televised game. Left-hander Trevor Rogers is expected to make his fifth start of the season as he looks to continue his resurgence while right-hander Grant Holmes, who has 36 strikeouts over his past four outings, takes the ball for Atlanta.