BALTIMORE — The Orioles needed a spark. Dean Kremer needed a lead. Jackson Holliday just needed a hit.
The 21-year-old Holliday achieved all three with his big swing in the second inning Wednesday night.
Holliday broke out of his 0 for 17 slump by blasting a grand slam that breathed life into a listless lineup, brought a frustrated fan base at Camden Yards to its feet and propelled the Orioles to a 9-1 win over the Cleveland Guardians.
The youngster stayed back on a 1-0 sweeper — thanks to the new toe tap in his swing — and hammered the pitch from righty Gavin Williams 396 feet to left-center field, landing in Baltimore’s bullpen. Holliday is the youngest player in Orioles history with two career grand slams, surpassing the great Cal Ripken Jr., who was 22 when he achieved the feat.
Holliday has hit seven home runs in his nascent big league career, but he’s already proved his penchant for grand slams. His slam Wednesday was the second of his career. The first came July 31 — a big fly that landed on Eutaw Street — for the first homer of Holliday’s career.
Wednesday’s long ball marked Holliday’s first hit since April 5. When the Orioles departed Kansas City earlier this month, Holliday appeared back on track after his disappointing rookie season. He was hitting .333 with an .888 OPS. But after his skid, Holliday’s numbers were down to a .213 average and a .570 OPS. Manager Brandon Hyde gave Holliday the day off Tuesday against a left-handed starter, allowing Holliday to reset before returning to the starting lineup Wednesday.
To set up Holliday, Cedric Mullins walked, Ryan Mountcastle singled and Ramón Urías walked to load the bases, and the Orioles’ youngest player delivered one of the biggest hits of the season.
The Guardians (9-8) responded in the next inning with Gabriel Arias’ solo homer, but that was one of the only hard-hit balls off Kremer. The right-hander twirled his best start of the season, allowing just the one run in 5 1/3 innings to reinvigorate the rotation.
Bryan Baker relieved Kremer with one out in the sixth, and it appeared as if another defensive miscue would derail this game. A popup down the left field line fell in between Ramón Laureano, Gunnar Henderson and Urias. But a web gem from an unlikely defender saved the Orioles and Baker, as Heston Kjerstad made a sliding catch in right-center field to end the inning. Kjerstad, whose defense is far from his calling card, showed off his plus speed to make a grab to which Statcast gave a 60% catch probability.
Gregory Soto, Yennier Cano and Keegan Akin finished out the game on the mound, with Cano escaping a first-and-third, no-out jam in the eighth thanks to an inning-ending 1-2-3 double play.
Laureano — starting in place of Tyler O’Neill, who was scratched from the lineup pregame with neck discomfort — homered down the left field line in the seventh, and Ryan O’Hearn followed with one down the opposite line in the eighth. Kjerstad drove in two runs with a single in the eighth, and Urías capped off the game’s scoring with a sacrifice fly.
But it was Holliday’s early clutch hit that the Orioles’ offense so badly needed. The group has been marred by inconsistency to begin the season, resulting in the ballclub’s 6-10 record entering the game.
“Our offense is better than what we’ve shown so far,” Hyde said pregame.
For at least one night, Holliday proved that true.
Instant analysis
It would be silly to say a contest on April 16 constitutes a “big game.” But it felt that way amid the Orioles’ torpid opening month.
Whether it was a “big game” or not, Kremer certainly pitched like it was, and he delivered exactly what the Orioles (7-10) needed, what Baltimore’s rotation needed and what Kremer himself needed. The 29-year-old was in command throughout his outing — limiting hard contact and commanding his five-pitch mix against the contact-oriented Guardians.
Baltimore entered Wednesday with easily the worst rotation ERA in MLB at 5.54 — the only club above 5.00. Kremer came into his fourth start of the season with an 8.16 ERA. That paired with an inconsistent offense is why the Orioles are off to a sluggish start.
But with more staggering slams from hitters like Holliday and sound starts from pitchers like Kremer, the Orioles might just be able to get out of this rut.
On deck
The Orioles have the chance to do something Thursday that they haven’t done all season: win a series.
Orioles right-hander Tomoyuki Sugano will start the rubber match opposite Guardians ace Tanner Bibee. The start to Sugano’s MLB career has been solid, as the Japanese superstar has posted a 3.86 ERA in three starts, but he’s struggled to pitch deep into games.
Around the horn
— Starting pitcher Zach Eflin played catch off flat ground Wednesday for the first time since injuring his lat muscle last week. Eflin, who is on the 15-day injured list, hopes he can return to the rotation soon. “I’m not interested in missing a lot of time,” he said.
— Corner infield prospect Coby Mayo homered again for Triple-A Norfolk on Wednesday. Since starting the season 3 for 24 at the plate, Mayo has been crushing the ball with a .344 average and 1.186 OPS.
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Jackson Holliday, engrossed in an 0-for-17 slump, blasted a grand slam in the second inning Wednesday to lead the Orioles over Cleveland.
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