BALTIMORE—Dylan Bundy had been the most puzzling of Orioles starters. Entering Saturday night’s game with the Tampa Bay Rays, Bundy was 0-4 with a 6.67 ERA.
Bundy, who hadn’t won a game since last September 13, delivered one of his best starts, pitching 7 1/3 shutout innings as the Orioles beat the Rays, 3-0.
It was the Orioles’ longest start of the season, and their first shutout.
Bundy allowed a single to Brandon Lowe on the game’s first pitch, a double to Avisail Garcia to begin the second and didn’t allow another hit until Martin Perez doubled in the eighth, which ended his night.
After Garcia’s double, Bundy retired the next 10 Rays. In the fifth, Daniel Armstrong walked and Bundy hit Perez with a pitch, but Willy Adames hit into a double play to end the inning.
Bundy then set down eight more Tampa Bay hitters until Perez’s double.
“I just felt like I was throwing all pitches to both sides of the plate on both left- and right-handed hitters,” Bundy said. “Kind of mixing it up on them and keep them guessing.”
The game was played in two hours, 19 minutes, fastest of the season.
“It’s all about rhythm and tempo, especially when you’re going good,” Bundy said. “You want to keep that rolling and just attack the hitters and get quick outs.”
Manager Brandon Hyde, who has watched many short starts in his first six weeks as Orioles manager, got to savor this one.
“That was a major league start,” Hyde said. “That was really enjoyable … no doubt. To have a guy be able to throw off-speed stuff in hitter’s counts, be able to not give in and be able to throw the fastball on the inner part of the plate and then off the inner part of the plate is something I’m begging our guys to do.
“That comes with a lot of things, but Dylan did that tonight. I think you see how it opens up other things when you’re able to elevate above the zone and when you go in you either get in or you get off the plate in, and it just opens up the plate for you. He did it tonight and, hopefully, we’re going to see more of that.”
Catcher Austin Wynns praised Bundy’s start.
“He had all his stuff today,” Wynns said. “We executed all our pitches. We had a great game plan, and when things were scuffling a little bit, we stuck to our game plan and all our guys [were] in position, the right spot. Dilly did a great job, great job. We needed that—big time.
“The tempo of the game was quick. He was on point. We were on the same page. We had no hiccups. It was awesome. That’s what we need, and we need to make that a habit, every day.”
The Orioles scored a run in the first when Dwight Smith Jr. hit into a double play that brought Jonathan Villar home. They scored another in the third when Villar’s forceout scored Stevie Wilkerson.
Smith hit a 429-foot home run to center, leading off the fourth, to give the Orioles their third and final run.
The shutout was preserved by an umpire’s ruling. After Perez’s double, Shawn Armstrong, who replaced Bundy, sailed a throw over Chris Davis after fielding Adames’ roller, and Perez appeared to score.
Instead, home plate umpire Lance Barrett called Adames out for running inside the baseline, and Perez was ordered back to second. Armstrong struck out Lowe to end the inning.
Mychal Givens pitched the ninth for his third save.
Goodbye, Fort Lauderdale Stadium: Ten years ago, the Orioles played their last game in Fort Lauderdale Stadium before moving to Sarasota. The team played there from 1996-2009, and it was a difficult place to hold spring training.
Space was cramped, facilities were outmoded, and night games were impossible because of malfunctioning lights.
The former spring home of the Orioles and New York Yankees as well as neighboring Lockhart Stadium, where football and soccer were played are soon to be demolished, the Sun-Sentinel reported.
Plans are for the two stadiums to be replaced by a modern soccer facility. No team had ever seriously considered relocating its spring training operation to Fort Lauderdale.
Minor honors: Right-handed pitcher Grayson Rodriguez, the Orioles’ top selection in last year’s draft, and infielder Adam Hall were named the team’s Minor League Pitcher and Player of the Month for April. Both play for the Low-A Delmarva Shorebirds.
Rodriguez was 3-0 with an 0.54 ERA in April with 28 strikeouts in 16 2/3 innings. Hall, who also won the award last August, batted .354 with a home run, 10 RBIs and 11 stolen bases.
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Bundy’s ability to throw more breaking balls for strikes was really key IMO. Hopefully he can build on this effort!
Hope so too, his track record shows teases of what he COULD do on a regular basis, he just needs to be more consistent....how fast was his fastball last night? Didn’t hear....thx
Bundy pitched great, staying out of long counts, and keeping the ball in the park. Dwight Smith had another home run. He has been the best acquisition thus far under Elias. The Shorebirds pitching has dominated the South Atlantic League. Rodriguez, Knight, and Peralta have era's under one.. They are averaging 30 strikeouts between them,
I also loved watching the Birds getting RBI with what should have been routine ground balls. I don't know how long it will take but, major league hitters are going to eventually bust the shifting.
Hey Rich what's with Baltimore local radio 105.7 blurting out rumors about O's moving to Las Vegas? If that station is gonna air out that stuff someone's got the dubious honor to substantiate or deny it. Media has turned into one big "National Enquirer".
Hi, Orial. I appear on 105.7 regularly, but don't work for them. I saw a tweet, but I wouldn't think that theory has much validity. Do you think MLB would abandon one of the loveliest stadiums in the game--in the middle of the Northeest corridor--for a smaller market that would already by then have NFL and NHL teams?
Let's all hope not, anyway.
Well, I concur with Rich in that leaving Camden Yards empty would be stupid, as it is one of the nicer ball parks in the bigs. Also, if the birds were to move I wonder if they would put an expansion franchise in Baltimore. Furthermore, it would be par for the course with Angelos ownership, twenty-some odd years of miserable baseball (except 2012, 2014, and 2016) followed by the kids taking over and the implementation of the Mayflower routine. All of that said, I would still bet the farm that the team stays.
So the playoff teams in the mid-90’s were miserable? People loved Angelos then btw.
Would've been about 2-4 years old at that time, but I should've mentioned the few good years in the 90s. I am young enough (25) to where I never remember anyone having affection for the Angelos regime.
Sisco last 7 games batting 538 , 5 home runs and 18 RBI . He sure woke up
Mountcastle consecutive hits in seven straight games , leads international league with 41 hits batting 342
I like the new look Orioles but continue to wonder why all the talk about trading what talent we have for a maybe prospect that rarely works out. It appears there is talent on the farm despite what the critics suggest, why not let them develop with a longer look approach?
Cody Sedlock pitched 6 scoreless innings for another strong start for Frederick, 2- 0 with a 1.95 era and 1.06 era in his last 3 starts. Hopefully, he's healthy going forward.
Way to go Dylan Bundy.