This was as classic a Dean Kremer start as can be. He mixed his five pitches relatively evenly, stayed around the edges of the zone, and while he didn’t miss many bats, he barely gave up any hard contact either. His splitter was his primary pitch, but it wasn’t very effective as he practically never threw it in the zone and the Guardians rarely chased it either. So, he wound up in many deep counts without much damage being done against him. He’s lined up for a two-start week coming up against the Nationals and Tigers.

Kremer gave up three homers and saw his ERA rise to 8.16 today. He’s obviously not going to lose his spot in Baltimore’s rotation while the team continues to deal with injuries, but at some point, he’s the kind of guy a contender might need to upgrade from. He’ll face the Guardians next.

Kremer got off to a rocky start in this one and never truly settled in. The Royals smacked three hits in the first inning and he was lucky to leave that frame with only one run on the board. Then, in the fourth, an error by Gunnar Henderson and wild pitch by Kremer himself set up a two-run single by Maikel Garcia that put the Royals ahead. Kremer allowed two more hits in the fifth and was mercifully pulled from the game. He obviously didn’t have his best swing-and-miss stuff and forced just five total whiffs on the night. Also, his velocity was down across the board in what was a cold, damp night in Kansas City. He’ll look to get back on track in his next scheduled start Wednesday against the Diamondbacks.

The Blue Jays were on Kremer early, driving in a pair of runs on three hits and a sacrifice fly in the first inning. Andrés Giménez added two more runs on a homer in the third. Kremer surrendered a fifth run in the fifth and recorded the first out in the sixth before his day was done at 81 pitches. The 29-year-old right-hander fell in line for the win with nine runs of support. He’ll take on the Royals in Kansas City on Friday.