Dylan Bundy has been the Baltimore Orioles’ most consistent starting pitcher to begin the season and he continued his solid start to the season on Monday.
BALTIMORE – The 25-year old starter came into the game with a 0-0 record, 0.69 ERA and 1.000 WHIP after pitching 13.0 innings. He took the ball on Opening Day, going seven scoreless innings against the Minnesota Twins. On April 4, he pitched six innings, allowing just one run to the Houston Astros.
In Monday night’s game against the Toronto Blue Jays, Bundy began the game with a 1-2-3 inning. He struck out Curtis Granderson, got Josh Donaldson to ground out and struck out Justin Smoak.
Bundy would run into some trouble in the second inning, allowing a leadoff single to Steve Pearce. Then Kendrys Morales would single to center field with no outs. After Morales would be relieved for Yangervis Solarte, Bundy was able to throw Pearce out at home for the first out, with Russell Martin reaching first. Kevin Pillar would walk, with Solarte going to third and Martin going to second base. Bundy would strike out Devon Travis and get Aledmys Diaz to line out to Anthony Santander for the final out.
During the third inning, Bundy gave a up a walk to Granderson. Then Bundy would strike out Donaldson and Smoak, but allowed a two-run home run to Pearce. Solarte immediately struck out, but the score sat at 2-0.
“Out there, I really didn’t think he was going to swing 3-0 and he did and I left it right down the middle for him and it went over the fence,” Bundy said of his home run allowed to Pearce. “So just a mistake I made and it cost us 2-1 there.”
The fourth inning would be another scoreless inning for Bundy. He struck out Martin, and induced two consecutive groundouts by Pillar and Travis. For a 1-2-3 inning. Bundy followed it up with another 1-2-3 inning in the fifth inning, with Diaz lining out, Granderson grounding out and Donaldson striking out.
Smoak began the sixth inning with a leadoff single off of Bundy, but he’d have the only hit of Toronto’s half of the sixth. Pearce grounded into a 5-4-3 double play and Solarte would pop out to end the inning.
Bundy’s final inning of work would come in the seventh inning, where he’d go 1-2-3 once again. Martin struck out swinging. Then, Pillar lined out on a shot to third base, where Tim Beckham made a quick stab for the out. Travis would then strike out on a foul tip that was held onto by Orioles catcher Caleb Joseph.
Though he pitched valiantly, Bundy would end up with the loss, putting his record at 0-1. He finished the game going seven innings, allowing two runs (two earned), on two hits, while striking out 10 batters, walking two batters and allowing one home run. His ERA is now 1.35 on the year, through 20.0 innings pitched. Baltimore would ultimately lose 7-1.
“Good, he was outstanding; he was great,” Orioles manager Buck Showalter said of Bundy’s start. “He was outstanding in a time of need. He knew what was at stake. We had five or six guys in the bullpen that weren’t going to pitch tonight. Went up and we only had Darren [O’Day] and that was a push. So, Dylan [Bundy] dialed it up for what we needed. That was much appreciated by the bullpen for sure, but we would have certainly liked to reward his effort.
We just scored one run tonight, regardless of what you want to say about it. With the pitching, there was a lot of fallout from the 26 innings of two of our games, but with another outing like that, it can get us back on our feet. We have some guys that need two days off. I took Mychal [Givens] about as far as I could take him.”
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