Game #147 Preview: Kremer vs Manoah

The Blue Jays wrap up their series with the Orioles today, looking to earn the sweep at home before heading out on the road. Today’s game gets underway 1:37 ET.

Blue Jays’ Starter

Fresh off his “flu game”, Alek Manoah heads back to the mound hopefully completely over the malady that pushed his start back on Tuesday. He was still great in that one, allowing 2 runs over 6.2 innings while nowhere near 100% healthy. That start pushed his season numbers to 14-7 with a 2.43 ERA through 177.2 innings. With 4 starts likely remaining, it seems probable that he will eclipse that 200 inning plateau, making him the first Jays’ starter since Marcus Stroman in 2017 to get there.

Head to head against the Orioles, this will be Manoah’s fifth start, and things have gone pretty well for him. He is 2-1 with a 2.92 ERA. Through 24.2 innings, he has allowed 8 runs on 16 hits, walking 7 and striking out 24. He has surrendered a pair of home runs, one each to Cedric Mullins and Adley Rutschman in the August 16 game.

Orioles’ Starter

Dean Kremer will get the start for the Orioles, his 18th start of the season. He is sitting at 99.2 innings on the season, so he’s probably crossing that 100 inning line today. He is having a pretty good season as well, sitting with a 7-5 record with a 3.34 ERA and a near matching 3.36 FIP. He doesn’t strike many guys out (6.50 K/9), but he doesn’t give up free bases or home runs either, instead just relying on a pretty strong defensive team behind him.

This will be the young righty’s third outing against the Jays this year. Kremer had a start back in mid-August where he faced off against Manoah, and then a relief appearance 11 days ago where he worked in a bulk role behind the returning Tyler Wells, also facing off against Manoah. In total, Kremer has done well, allowing 5 runs (4 earned) on 13 hits and 3 walks over 12.1 innings. He has struck out 9, and gave up a home run to Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

Blue Jays’ Lineup

Kirk is still out, so Jansen will be catching Manoah for the first time since last October, as Jansen caught three of Manoah’s starts down the stretch. The Blue Jays won all three of those games.

Orioles’ Lineup

Ryan Mountcastle is out of the lineup after taking a pitch to the elbow yesterday.

Yesterday’s Heroes

Amed Rosario had a hell of a day in Cleveland yesterday, playing in a double header, with one lasting 15 innings. In total on the day, he went 8-13 with a home run and 6 RBI, taking home the Monster Bat award. He also gets the WPA King trophy, as he put up a combined .895 WPA, with .833 of it coming in the 15 inning game. An incredible day of back and forth baseball, with 24 innings played between the two teams. The Guardians did end up winning both over the Twins, 5-1 and the 15 inning game was 7-6.

On the pitching side of things, the Cardinals, playing in a double header of their own, had two pitchers give them 8 innings with no earned runs, making Dakota Hudson and José Quintana the co-winners of the Pitcher of the Day award. Quintana went 8 shutout innings, allowing just 2 hits and a bean ball while striking out 6, but didn’t factor into the decision as it took 11 innings for the Cardinals to win that one 1-0. Hudson’s 8 innings involved an unearned run on 6 hits and 2 walks with 5 strikeouts, but he did take home the win as the Cardinals took down the Reds 5-1.

Find the Link

Find the link between Dean Kremer and DJ LeMahieu.

Stats retrieved from Fangraphs and Baseball Savant