For all the fanfare before the game, the statements of intent given by owner David Rubenstein and general manager Mike Elias, the three home runs that immediately flew off the bats of Houston Astros players against Dean Kremer tempered it.

The Orioles did their best to scratch back into this game. They tied it twice, and they entered the ninth inning with another chance given the one-run deficit. But Baltimore still dropped the contest 9-8 to end a wacky back-and-forth affair.

Saturday served as a reminder that, before it gets better, there may be more frustrating nights at the ballpark to come. The two-run home run off left-hander Dietrich Enns — courtesy of Christian Walker, who has homered in three straight games — wound up as the difference.

“You got to give those hitters credit over there, man,” interim manager Tony Mansolino said. “Every mistake that we made, they hit it over the fence.”

This isn’t what Rubenstein would have wanted. Before first pitch, he said, “I think people are going to be really happy in Baltimore with what we field next year, but I don’t want to eliminate this season. We still have a number of games to play, and we want to win as many of them as possible.”

Baltimore has played better since late May. But this wasn’t one of those nights on defense or on the mound, even as the bats erupted.

Last week, Kremer was practically impervious when he spun seven scoreless innings against the Astros. But on Saturday it seemed clear he was tipping pitches in some way. He allowed three home runs in an inning for the first time in his career to Carlos Correa, Jesús Sánchez and Victor Caratini. Although the solo shot from Sánchez came on a hanging curveball, the other two were borderline pitches that were still hit a mile.

“I slipped on the Correa one, but they jumped me a little bit there,” Kremer said. “They were more aggressive at balls in the zone, and I made a couple mistakes to some good hitters and they’re one of the hottest teams hitting right now.”

The difference coming out for the second was stark, Kremer forcing two groundouts and striking out Correa, before the issues began again.

In the third, a single and Sánchez’s inside-out double that just squeezed inside the third-base bag put runners in scoring position. When a chopper reached Vimael Machín at third base, he looked Jose Altuve back to the bag before throwing across the diamond.

But Altuve broke for the plate anyway, and first baseman Coby Mayo’s throw was low and off line. Catcher Samuel Basallo couldn’t block it and the ball rolled to the backstop, which allowed Sánchez to keep running and score from second.

“Altuve, Hall of Fame player, just kind of gets the best of us right there in that situation,” Mansolino said. “We didn’t drive him back as good as we would’ve liked. It’s a big moment.”

After the frame, Kremer appeared to have words for Basallo as they exited the field. And once more, after the fourth, Basallo and Kremer were locked in discussion — a rookie catcher and veteran pitcher perhaps attempting to come to an understanding while working together for the first time.

Mansolino said those were “very normal interactions for Dean, whether he’s pitching good or really bad. It’s just Deano.”

And Kremer said working with Basallo will require “some learning curve.”

“But you miss pitches down the middle and you get hurt, and that’s on me. That’s not on him,” Kremer said.

Even with one of Kremer’s worst outings of the season, the Orioles gave him a clean slate almost immediately. Gunnar Henderson and Colton Cowser drove in runs in the first inning, and Ryan Mountcastle’s second-inning, two-run single knotted the score.

They chipped their way back in once more when Jeremiah Jackson launched the first home run of his major league career and Cowser followed with a blast of his own in the fifth.

“A lot of hard work to get here and even more hard work just being up here,” said Jackson, who added that he’ll give the ball from his first homer to his grandpa Mike. “It’s a really good group of guys. It’s fun showing up here every day, trying to get better, trying to learn from everybody and just go out there and play.”

The performances from some of Baltimore’s youngest players illustrated why Elias is optimistic for a rebound in 2026, given complementary additions.

Outfielder Dylan Beavers, who debuted one week ago in Houston, is the first Orioles player to reach base 15 times in his first seven games, according to MLB.com. With two hits Saturday, Beavers is batting .333 and his OPS is 1.026.

Jackson added an RBI single in the eighth to make his average .339 in almost a month of action. And Basallo lashed a 112.1 mph double in the fifth inning.

But the two-run shot off Enns and a poor start from Kremer buried the Orioles. The offense couldn’t keep up.

News and notes

• The Orioles expect right-hander Kyle Bradish to make his return to the rotation from a lengthy elbow surgery recovery next week against the Boston Red Sox. Mansolino said he thinks Bradish will pitch Tuesday, but that is not set in stone.
• Right-hander Tyler Wells, also nearing a return from elbow surgery, will pitch another rehab outing Wednesday for Triple-A Norfolk. That should be his last rehab appearance prior to arriving in Baltimore.

This article has updated.