Dean Kremer pitches 7 shutout innings to lead Orioles past Marlins 5-2

BALTIMORE (AP) — Dean Kremer pitched seven innings of three-hit ball, Ryan O’Hearn and Ramón Laureano each had two RBIs and the surging Baltimore Orioles beat the Miami Marlins 5-2 on Friday night.

Jordan Westburg had three hits and scored three runs for the Orioles, who have won six of seven to improve to 43-50 — the closest they’ve been to .500 since May 5.

Kremer (8-7) struck out seven, walked one and kept Miami scoreless while allowing only one runner past first base. He finished his 99-pitch effort with two straight strikeouts.

Otto Lopez's two-run homer in the ninth enabled the Marlins to avoid their second consecutive shutout.

Back in Baltimore for the first time since being traded with Connor Norby to Miami last July 30, NL All-Star Kyle Stowers went 1 for 3 with a walk. Stowers received a smattering of applause from those in the crowd of 22,213 who recalled the 2019 second-round pick playing parts of three seasons with the Orioles.

Norby went 1 for 3.

Baltimore wasted no time grabbing the lead against Miami starter Edward Cabrera (3-4). Westburg singled in a run and scored on a double by O'Hearn in the first inning. In the third, the Orioles bunched together four straight hits, including an RBI single by O'Hearn and a run-scoring double by Laureano.

Cabrera left with right elbow discomfort after allowing four runs in four innings.

“We had a conversation with the coaches and manager, and they decided to just take me out of the game,” Cabrera said through an interpreter. “It's just a little fatigue but nothing major, thank goodness.”

Laureano singled in a run in the seventh to make it 5-0.

Jackson Holliday ripped Cabrera's first pitch into center field for a double, setting the tone for a game in which Baltimore scored twice before making two outs.

The Orioles improved to 8-24 in games in which they do not homer.

Facing the Marlins for the first time since they traded him for Stowers and Norby, Trevor Rogers (2-0, 1.57 ERA) gets his fifth start of the season on Saturday. Janson Junk (3-1, 3.12) starts for Miami.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Miami Marlins starting pitcher Edward Cabrera delivers during the first inning of a baseball game against the Baltimore Orioles, Friday, July 11, 2025, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Miami Marlins' Kyle Stowers tosses his bat after being walked by Baltimore Orioles starting pitcher Dean Kremer during the fourth inning of a baseball game Friday, July 11, 2025, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Baltimore Orioles' Jordan Westburg advances past third base to score on an RBI double hit by Ryan O'Hearn during the first inning of a baseball game against the Miami Marlins, Friday, July 11, 2025, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Baltimore Orioles' Jordan Westburg, right, scores past Miami Marlins catcher Agustin Ramirez, left, on an RBI hit by Ryan O'Hearn during the third inning of a baseball game, Friday, July 11, 2025, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Baltimore Orioles starting pitcher Dean Kremer delivers during the second inning of a baseball game against the Miami Marlins, Friday, July 11, 2025, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

ALEPPO, Syria (AP) — First responders on Sunday entered a contested neighborhood in Syria’ s northern city of Aleppo after days of deadly clashes between government forces and Kurdish-led forces. Syrian state media said the military was deployed in large numbers.

The clashes broke out Tuesday in the predominantly Kurdish neighborhoods of Sheikh Maqsoud, Achrafieh and Bani Zaid after the government and the Syrian Democratic Forces, the main Kurdish-led force in the country, failed to make progress on how to merge the SDF into the national army. Security forces captured Achrafieh and Bani Zaid.

The fighting between the two sides was the most intense since the fall of then-President Bashar Assad to insurgents in December 2024. At least 23 people were killed in five days of clashes and more than 140,000 were displaced amid shelling and drone strikes.

The U.S.-backed SDF, which have played a key role in combating the Islamic State group in large swaths of eastern Syria, are the largest force yet to be absorbed into Syria's national army. Some of the factions that make up the army, however, were previously Turkish-backed insurgent groups that have a long history of clashing with Kurdish forces.

The Kurdish fighters have now evacuated from the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood to northeastern Syria, which is under the control of the SDF. However, they said in a statement they will continue to fight now that the wounded and civilians have been evacuated, in what they called a “partial ceasefire.”

The neighborhood appeared calm Sunday. The United Nations said it was trying to dispatch more convoys to the neighborhoods with food, fuel, blankets and other urgent supplies.

Government security forces brought journalists to tour the devastated area, showing them the damaged Khalid al-Fajer Hospital and a military position belonging to the SDF’s security forces that government forces had targeted.

The SDF statement accused the government of targeting the hospital “dozens of times” before patients were evacuated. Damascus accused the Kurdish-led group of using the hospital and other civilian facilities as military positions.

On one street, Syrian Red Crescent first responders spoke to a resident surrounded by charred cars and badly damaged residential buildings.

Some residents told The Associated Press that SDF forces did not allow their cars through checkpoints to leave.

“We lived a night of horror. I still cannot believe that I am right here standing on my own two feet,” said Ahmad Shaikho. “So far the situation has been calm. There hasn’t been any gunfire.”

Syrian Civil Defense first responders have been disarming improvised mines that they say were left by the Kurdish forces as booby traps.

Residents who fled are not being allowed back into the neighborhood until all the mines are cleared. Some were reminded of the displacement during Syria’s long civil war.

“I want to go back to my home, I beg you,” said Hoda Alnasiri.

Associated Press journalist Kareem Chehayeb in Beirut contributed to this report.

Sandbag barriers used as fighting positions by Kurdish fighters, left inside a destroyed mosque in the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

Burned vehicles at one of the Kurdish fighters positions at the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

People flee the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

A Syrian military police convoy enters the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

Burned vehicles and ammunitions left at one of the Kurdish fighters positions at the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)