Trey Mancini delivers go-ahead double, then Orioles break it open in 6-1 win over Rangers

When Trey Mancini stepped to the plate with two on and none out in the eighth inning of a tied game, he did so as baseball’s leader in grounding into double plays. When he fell behind 0-2, he was in position for what would’ve been his 19th strikeout in 15 games.

Instead, as he has so often in the past year, he battled.

Mancini’s go-ahead double gave the Orioles their first lead of Saturday night, one they added onto in a 6-1 victory over the Texas Rangers. Baltimore (7-8) will go for the sweep Sunday.

After inning-opening singles from DJ Stewart and Maikel Franco, Mancini’s double put two in scoring position for Ryan Mountcastle, who was playing first base with Mancini serving as the designated hitter. Mountcastle’s deep drive to right field was caught at the wall, but it was good enough to serve as a sacrifice fly and extend the lead.

Freddy Galvis doubled and scored on a Cedric Mullins single to tie the game in the seventh, then doubled again to open the ninth for his fourth hit to improve to 7 for 10 with three doubles, a triple and a home run in the past three games. After Stewart singled him in, Franco blasted a two-run home run to provide the final margin.

Behind a solid short-rest start from rookie right-hander Dean Kremer, the Orioles bullpen extended its scoreless streak to 11 2/3 innings, including 8 1/3 innings in the series.

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After lasting only three innings for the second straight start to open his first full year in the majors, Kremer lamented not using his curveball more. Hyde said before Saturday’s game that Kremer became “too cutter happy,” relying on that pitch rather than his fastball-curve combination. Kremer offered no reasons for such qualms Saturday.

Pitching on short rest for the first time as a major leaguer, Kremer delivered his best start of the year, working a season-high 4 2/3 innings, striking out six and allowing a run. Of his 78 pitches, 90% were his four-seam fastball or curveball. He topped out at about 72% in that area in his first two starts, according to MLB’s Statcast data, while the 10 swing-and-misses he generated marked one fewer than he had gotten in his first two starts combined.

A pair of doubleheaders in the Orioles’ four-game series against the Seattle Mariners left Baltimore without an on-schedule starter for Saturday, but with Kremer coming off a 54-pitch start Tuesday, the Orioles decided to deploy him on three day’s rest.

Kremer began his start with a four-pitch walk but followed by retiring eight of the next nine Rangers. But three of the first four Texas batters singled off him to produce a fourth-inning run. The inning might’ve spiraled if not for a sterling double play behind him.

Galvis made a sliding stop on Nick Solak’s sharp grounder to shortstop and tossed to second baseman Rio Ruiz, who barehanded the ball for the first out before throwing to first to complete the double play and end the inning.

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Before the game, Hyde referred to the middle innings as an early “bugaboo” for the Orioles pitching staff. For the second straight day, a left-handed reliever kept that from being the case.

After Paul Fry’s strong performance Friday, Wade LeBlanc entered behind Kremer and retired the next four batters to get the game to the seventh. A leadoff single ended his day, but scoreless innings from Travis Lakins Sr., Tanner Scott and Shawn Armstrong completed the victory.