The Orioles were on the field on Monday night for their off-day workouts.
The O's now with their backs against the wall, down 0-2 in this best-of-five series.
But you wouldn't know it according to manager Brandon Hyde. He says the clubhouse, like usual, like all season, is loose. Same as it was before the first two games of this series.
Players say the same.
"Everybody's feeling good. We're covering today, doing all the treatment, everything we need to do on our bodies to make sure we're good to go for these next three games," said Austin Hays.
"We know our backs are against the wall. We know where we're at in the season, and I'm not ready to be done playing with these guys. I think we got a lot left to give. Hopefully, we can win the next three but it starts with one game at a time," Ryan O'Hearn said.
The big news Monday night was Hyde announcing that Dean Kremer will get the start on Tuesday.
Dean Kremer is the #Orioles game 3 starter.
— Shawn Stepner (@StepnerWMAR) October 9, 2023
A breakout year for Kremer and he has come through in big games late in this regular season.
He started both clinchers in September when the Birds clinched a postseason spot and when they clinched the AL East championship.
But there is more on his mind than baseball.
Kremer holds dual citizenship with the U.S. and Israel.
He has family that lives in Israel and the war that the nation now fights is ever present in his thoughts.
Kremer was asked if there was a hesitation to pitch on Tuesday with everything going on in the Middle East
"My family's OK," Kremer said. "Obviously it's a very sad situation. A lot of things are being brought to light. But everybody is OK right now. Is there a hesitation? No, I still want to pitch but it's going to be in the back of my head."
"He seemed ok. He seemed like he was ready to pitch. He seemed like he felt comfortable with where his family situation was at with the whole thing. Obviously, he is very disturbed, there are a lot of things going on, but I didn't sense it was going to affect him. I think he's really looking forward to pitching tomorrow," Hyde said.
Game 3 is set for Tuesday at 8:03 p.m.
