The Orioles keep on winning. This time saw Dean Kremer lead them with seven shutout innings while the lineup collected 12 hits and earned a series-opening win over the visiting Marlins.

Kremer bounced back from a rough outing in Atlanta to toss seven shutout frames in this one. He used his whole repertoire, but the splitter seemed to have the Marlins particularly befuddled. Kremer threw it 24 times, got 15 swings, and nine whiffs on it. That’s a 60% whiff rate, a huge number. The O’s starter balanced that with his four-seamer, which was less dominant but served as a crucial set up offering.

The Marlins never even had Kremer on the ropes. They managed just three hits and a walk over his seven innings, and went 0-for-1 with runners in scoring position. That lone opportunity came in the third inning. Connor Norby led off with a single, scooted to second on a fly out, and then advanced to third base on a bunt. But he would make it no farther.

Kremer’s season ERA is down to 4.24, it’s lowest point of the entire season. The 29-year-old is turning into a staff horse. Over his last six starts he has pitched seven or more innings in three of them. He has always said he wanted to throw 200 innings a season. For now, he is still well off that pace in 2025, but his improvement since April has been remarkable.

The Orioles bats provided support early, and then tacked on an insurance run late to help Kremer earn the win.

Jackson Holliday, as he often does, swung at the very first pitch in the home half of the first inning, and laced it into left-center for a double. Three pitches later, Jordan Westburg knocked Holliday home on a hard-hit single into right field. Ryan O’Hearn doubled the lead with, well, a double. The O’s all-star representative smacked a two-bagger into right-center field, plating Westburg to make it 2-0 early.

The O’s got back to scoring in the third inning. Westburg reached on a one-out single. Gunnar Henderson followed with a single of his own. And then it was O’Hearn again. He squeaked a base hit through the infield to drive in Westburg. Ramón Laureano capped off the inning with a well-placed double, scoring Henderson and extending the Orioles lead to 4-0.

That’s all the damage that the O’s would do against Miami starter Edward Cabrera. The 27-year-old entered the game in fine form. Dating back to May 25, he had a 1.64 ERA over eight starts and 44 innings. This start was his worst since April, when he was routinely giving up crooked numbers. Kudos to the Orioles for knocking a pitcher out of his groove.

In the seventh inning, the Orioles scored a comforting insurance run. Once again, Westburg got things going with a single. Henderson walked, and then Laureano flared a base hit into shallow right field to score the team’s fifth run of the evening.

After Kremer exited the game, Tony Mansolino only needed to turn to two bullpen options. Yennier Cano worked a perfect eighth inning, and Andrew Kittredge was given the ninth.

Kittredge did not look too sharp. He allowed a single to lead-off hitter Jesús Sánchez, and then served up a two-run homer to Otto Lopez, his 10th long ball of the season. But he settled in from there, retiring the next three batters he faced to close out the Orioles 5-2 win.

This was yet another impressive team win for the Orioles. It’s something they have made a habit of lately, going 6-1 over their last seven games, and they are now just seven games under .500 for the first time since early May. Don’t let these guys get hot!

Westburg and Laureano both had three hits to lead the offense. O’Hearn and Laureano had two RBI a piece. Henderson reached base thrice, including two walks and a run scored. And they did all of this without the help of a home run.

The familiar faces in the Miami lineup had fine nights of their own. Norby was 1-for-3. Kyle Stowers went 1-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout. But neither of them could do much with Kremer on his game and the rest of their lineup going quiet through the first eighth innings of the game.

Saturday’s game is likely the main event of this weekend. Not only will Trevor Rogers faced the two hitters he was traded for. But it’s also the second Hawaiian Shirt giveaway of the week. In all likelihood, Camden Yards is going to be packed and rocking. First pitch is 4:05.