The Baltimore Orioles opened their current homestand with an 11-5 win over the St. Louis Cardinals Monday night. The Cardinals had established a 5-3 lead after their half of the fifth inning only to see all of that change dramatically in the bottom of the frame.

Starting pitcher Dean Kremer had already exited the game after allowing 5 runs on 7 hits with 4 walks, 2 strike outs and a wild pitch thrown over 4.1 innings. Kremer has now failed to reach 5.0 innings in both of his September starts.

The home half of the fifth started with singles by Adley Rutschman (1 for 3, 2 R, 1 BB) and Gunnar Henderson (3 for 5, 1 HR, 3 R, 1 RBI). Ryan O’Hearn (1 for 4, 1 2B, 1 R, 1 RBI) doubled home Rutschman and a walk to Ryan Mountcastle (0 for 3, 1 R, 2 BB) loaded the bases. A two-strike grand-slam homerun by Cedric Mullins (2 for 3, 1 HR, 2 R, 4 RBI, 1 BB) changed the trajectory of the game.

Henderson also hit his 25th homerun of the season in the sixth inning,

Singles by Aaron Hicks (3 for 4, 1 2B, 2 R) and Ramon Urias (1 for 4, 1 RBI) started the Balltimore scoring in the second inning. Adam Frazier (1 for 3, 1 RBI, 1 BB) plated Hicks with a RBI single in the third inning. Austin Hays (1 for 1, 2 RBI), a 7th inning defensive sub for O’Hearn, capped off the scoring in the 8th inning with a 2-RBI single. Hays also made a Top-10 diving catch in the eighth inning, robbing Nolan Gorman of extra bases.

DL Hall (1-0) benefited from the Mullins Slam, earning the win with a 1 hit, 1 strike out 1.1 inning relief effort. Since returning to the Orioles on August 26th, Hall has a 1-0 record with a 2.08 ERA, a 1.15 WHIP and 8 strikeouts over 8.2 innings (8 games).

Jacob Webb (1.0 IP, 1 H) returned to form and Shintaro Fujinami (1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 1 K) closed out the ninth.

BOX SCORE

2023 Record: 91-52 Magic Number: 16

Next Game: Tues. 9/12 @ 6:35 pm vs. St. Louis Cardinals @ OPACY

John Means vs. Adam Wainwright

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