Troy Melton, opposing Orioles, attempts to end Tigers' skid

Dean Kremer gave up a season-high six runs in his latest start. The Baltimore Orioles right-hander will try to turn things around in the second contest of a three-game road series against the Detroit Tigers on Tuesday.

Kremer gave up four of those runs in the first inning against the Boston Red Sox on Wednesday but managed to hang around for six innings.

“It was a grindy performance by Dean,” manager Craig Albernaz said. “They did a great job of having some really tough at-bats against him, being able to move the ball forward and fight off some tough pitches and get some hits, and then the pitches that were out over the plate, they did damage on. But Dean grinded through and gave us six.”

Kremer (1-3, 5.06 ERA) was making his fourth start since missing 2 1/2 months due to a quad injury. He went 1-1 with a 4.20 ERA in the prior three outings.

Kremer, 30, lost both of his starts against the Tigers last season, allowing nine runs in 12 2/3 innings. He has a 0-3 record and a 7.13 ERA in three career appearances (two starts) against Detroit.

Troy Melton (5-1, 1.95 ERA) will be Kremer’s mound opponent. The 25-year-old right-hander has surrendered two runs or fewer in nine of his 10 starts this season.

He dealt with control issues in his past two starts, walking four each time. Melton threw 90 pitches to get through five-plus innings against the Kansas City Royals on Thursday, but he allowed just two runs on five hits.

Melton made his season debut against Baltimore on May 24 after recovering from an elbow injury. In his lone career outing against the Orioles, he permitted one run and two hits in 5 2/3 innings while walking three and fanning three.

The Tigers won’t be able to stack as many left-handed batters as they would like against Kremer. Outfielder Kerry Carpenter was placed on the injured list on Monday due to plantar fasciitis in his left foot.

Carpenter had 26 homers in 130 games in 2025 and 13 long balls through the end of June this season. Battling a heel issue, Carpenter had no extra-base hits or RBIs in 52 July at-bats while batting .115.

Right-handed-hitting Eduardo Valencia was called up from Triple-A Toledo to take Carpenter’s spot on the active roster.

“It’s always a balance act,” manager A.J. Hinch said. “We’ve seen Hao-Yu Lee (a right-handed hitter) step up against right-handed pitching and not be as much of a platoon decision for us in his role. And there are things we can changes series by series if we need to.”

The Orioles took the series opener 8-5 on Monday thanks in large part to the production of Coby Mayo and Jackson Holliday. Mayo hit a two-run homer and drove in three runs. Holliday delivered a four-hit game and scored twice for Baltimore, which has alternated losses and wins for six games.

The Tigers have dropped three straight games. The margin of victory on Monday marked the first time in five games that a Detroit outcome wasn’t decided by a single run.

Lee, who drove in two runs on Monday, will carry a 12-game hitting streak into the Tuesday contest.

–Field Level Media