BALTIMORE -- Among the multitude of reasons for the Orioles’ recent stretch of strong play has been repeated terrific performances from their pitching staff.

Entering Sunday, Baltimore had won nine of its past 11 games, with six of those victories coming by two or fewer runs. Over that span, the O’s recorded a 1.83 ERA and allowed two or fewer runs in a game eight times.

The Orioles will hope Sunday’s series finale vs. the D-backs at Camden Yards was a one-day rough patch amid their nine-game homestand, the longest of their season.

Arizona used a six-run sixth inning to hand Baltimore a 9-2 loss. It was the first time the O’s -- who still won the series by taking the first two games -- allowed that many runs since April 19, when they took a 9-4 loss at Kansas City.

“We didn’t play our best baseball today, just all around,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “That was kind of sloppy for us defensively, and just kind of one of those games for us.”

There were ups and downs for Orioles starter Dean Kremer, who again began on a roll. The 28-year-old right-hander retired the first nine batters he faced for the second consecutive start, racking up five strikeouts through three innings.

Kremer finished with a career-high-tying 10 K’s, a mark he previously reached on April 24 at Angel Stadium and last July 5 at Yankee Stadium. Six of his strikeouts were caught looking, tied for the most by an O’s pitcher since Statcast tracking began in 2008. (Wade Miley twice had six looking K’s -- April 20, 2017, at Cincinnati and Aug. 29, 2016, vs. Toronto.)

All six of Kremer’s called third strikes on those K’s came via his sinker, which he threw 21 times (nine for called strikes and one inducing a whiff).

“I’d say it’s definitely come a long way, being able to not just throw it arm side but also glove side and feel comfortable to front hip lefties with it,” Kremer said of his sinker. “A step in the right direction.”

The first three runs given up by Kremer were unearned, as the D-backs capitalized on a pair of errors -- a misthrown pickoff attempt by Kremer in the fourth and a throwing error by Ramón Urías in the fifth. Arizona held a 3-1 lead after five, then broke the game open on Jake McCarthy’s home run off Kremer -- which came against a high-and-inside 1-0 four-seam fastball -- that sparked the big rally in the sixth, much of it occurring following Kremer’s departure.

“I was a little bit more wild that second time through,” Kremer said, “but in terms of damage, McCarthy put a good swing on a good pitch and that was about it.”

It marked the second consecutive day that Baltimore’s starter allowed four or more runs -- John Means gave up four in 4 2/3 innings in Saturday’s 11-inning win -- although only half of Kremer’s were earned. Prior to that, no O’s starting pitcher had yielded more than three runs since April 28 (when Albert Suárez allowed four in four innings in a 7-6 loss to the A’s).

The Orioles’ rotation should soon get back on track, possibly as soon as Monday, when ace Corbin Burnes (who leads the team with a 2.83 ERA and whose 47 strikeouts are tied with Kremer) will start the series opener vs. the Blue Jays. He’ll be followed to the mound Tuesday by Kyle Bradish, who has a 1.86 ERA in two starts since returning from a right UCL sprain.

Baltimore will also have a fairly fresh bullpen for the start of the week, in large part thanks to Suárez. The 34-year-old right-hander tossed the final three innings vs. the D-backs, allowing only one hit and recording three strikeouts.

It was much appreciated by the rest of the Orioles, who had used five or more relievers in each of their previous three games -- one that went 12 innings (Wednesday at Washington) and another that lasted 11 (Saturday vs. Arizona).

“That was the highlight of the game for me,” Hyde said. “We’ve had to use quite a few guys, two extra-inning games, as of late. For Albert to do what he did there, that was a huge pickup.”