Dean Kremer pitched six strong innings in his return from the injured list, and the Baltimore Orioles avoided a three-game sweep by defeating the visiting Chicago White Sox 6-1 on Wednesday afternoon.
Tyler O’Neill and Leody Taveras each homered and the Orioles made good use of seven hits to snap a four-game losing streak. Blaze Alexander had two hits, including a run-scoring triple, as the only Baltimore player with multiple hits.
Kremer (1-1), who hadn’t pitched in the big leagues since April 18 as he recovered from a quadriceps injury, held the White Sox to one run on four hits. He also had four strikeouts in his third outing for Baltimore this year.
Tyler Ward pitched two shutout innings from the bullpen and Andrew Kittredge worked a perfect ninth as Baltimore wrapped up a 2-4 homestand.
Sam Antonacci’s home run was one of Chicago’s four hits. He also had a single, but the White Sox lost for just the third time in their last nine games.
White Sox starter Noah Schultz, also fresh off the injured list, went 4 1/3 innings and was charged with three runs on two hits. He struck out seven but issued four walks.
Antonacci opened the scoring by leading off the game with a home run, but the White Sox rarely threatened. The stranded only three runners had had only one at-bat with a runner in scoring position.
O’Neill gave Baltimore its first run by leading off the fifth with his third long ball of the season. The Orioles went on to score three more runs in the inning.
The go-ahead run came on Adley Rutschman’s single, while Taylor Ward lofted a sacrifice fly and another run crossed the plate on Chicago reliever Trevor Richards’ wild pitch.
Alexander tripled in another Baltimore run in the sixth.
