They have screamed out for this sort of starting pitching performance, and they finally got it on the second day of May. Through the first month of the season, Orioles starting pitchers had produced a few valiant efforts. They had largely had outings spiral out of control much too quickly.

What Dean Kremer provided in Friday’s 3-0 win against the Kansas City Royals at Camden Yards was the first true gem of the season — a seven-inning shutout effort that propelled Baltimore to back-to-back wins for only the second time this season.

All of the uneven performances in the world filled April. May, on the other hand, is off to a strong start. Kremer walked off the mound in the seventh having done his part in a scoreless game, then Adley Rutschman and Ryan O’Hearn combined to put him in line for the win.

Rutschman doubled and O’Hearn homered against right-hander Michael Wacha, who had spun his own marvelous six innings before the outing unraveled with O’Hearn’s two-run shot against his former team. And, with right-hander Steven Cruz in relief, Baltimore added another run via Emmanuel Rivera’s RBI single.

Wacha finished the pitcher’s duel with three runs against him. Kremer and the rest of the Orioles pitching staff produced their first shutout of the season.

“I think it was collective tonight, not just me,” Kremer said. “Plays were made, defense put on a show, and the offense got it done right when they needed to.”

On the scale of Orioles starting pitchers, Kremer was far from the worst over the first month of the season. Still, he entered with a 7.04 ERA and hadn’t completed six innings to this point. The 29-year-old was immediately at risk of not getting out of the second inning, even.

That’s when Royals designated hitter Mark Canha throttled a 103.2 mph line drive off Kremer’s right thigh. The ball ricocheted off the right-hander toward first baseman Ryan Mountcastle, yet Kremer still burst toward the bag to record the out, beating Canha down the line.

It set the tone for Kremer’s start — he had no interest in the ball leaving his hand.

“They’re going to have to pry the ball out of my hand to take me out,” Kremer said.

And after the game O’Hearn told Kremer he was proud of the way the pitcher took the liner off his thigh, recorded the out and went on to spin seven scoreless.

Then he laughed: “That’s the manliest thing I’ve ever seen him do,” O’Hearn said.

Entering Friday, Kremer’s cutter had lagged behind the performances of yesteryears. Batters were hitting .314 against that offering, with a hard-hit rate of 48.1%, according to Statcast. Much of that can be chalked up to location.

Kremer commanded that pitch with aplomb Friday, and it helped him produce the best start of his season. He didn’t allow a ball in play against his cutter until the sixth inning, when Jonathan India and Bobby Witt Jr. lifted one each for lazy fly balls to left and right fields.

Kremer said the cutter was “was a part of the plan; it wasn’t the plan.” He used the offering often, though, mainly mixing it with his four-seamer and curveball.

“Each lineup’s a little different in what they’re good at and what their weaknesses are,” Kremer said. “Trying to find a plan that kind of works in getting the job done, and pairing that with what you have working that night. And I had my cutter working tonight.”

There was an element of fortune involved, however. The Royals launched 12 hard-hit balls against Kremer, leaving bats at 95 mph or faster. Only three resulted in hits.

Manager Brandon Hyde joked that, since the calendar turned to May, he saw a different Kremer. “April’s over for Dean,” Hyde said. “I don’t know the numbers actually, just going from my recall the last few years, he gets better as the season goes on.”

Hyde’s recollection was correct. In Kremer’s career, he holds a 6.24 ERA in March and April. By August, his ERA drops to 3.29.

“I wish I would do it opening day, you know?” Kremer said. “But it doesn’t seem to have unfolded that way. But hopefully, from here on out, we can put together a consistent start.”

Once the Orioles took a three-run lead in the bottom half of the seventh, Hyde pulled Kremer for right-hander Yennier Cano. Hyde said, after all those innings, Kremer’s leg was beginning to stiffen. Even at 82 pitches, Hyde “could just tell he kind of left it out there that seventh inning.”

The move worked, with Cano and right-hander Félix Bautista finishing out the series-opening win against the Royals, a team that has caused issues for the Orioles in recent years. Bautista posted his sixth save of the season and his third in four games.

Kansas City took two of three from Baltimore in an early-April series, and the Royals used tight pitching matchups during the 2024 playoffs to sweep the Orioles at Camden Yards.

This time, the tight pitching matchup went Baltimore’s way. The stakes were much lower — it’s only May. And any sweeping takeaway that the Orioles have improved their fortunes would be shortsighted, given the starting rotation issues at large.

“It’s pretty clear that our rotation had a tough time the first five weeks,” Hyde said.

Then again, Kremer’s best start of the season — and, by extension, the best start from any Orioles pitcher — is praiseworthy. It opened a new month on the right foot. It meant Baltimore won consecutive games for the first time since April 16 and 17. And it brought the Orioles one step closer to finding a semblance of consistency that has been elusive over the first month of the campaign.

“When we get some starts like that, it’s easier on the bullpen [and] it gives guys confidence,” Hyde said. “It gives us a little momentum. You see how we play when we get a good start. We play really good baseball. We played good defense tonight, and Dean was fantastic tonight.”

This article has been updated.