Orioles Beat Rangers
BALTIMORE — Rookie Dylan Bundy certainly did not look like a pitcher making only his fourth major league start.
Pedro Alvarez homered twice, and Adam Jones and Matt Wieters each added home run to support Bundy’s seven scoreless, one-hit innings as the Baltimore Orioles posted a 5-1 victory over the Texas Rangers on Tuesday night.
Bundy retired the first 10 Rangers and had a no-hitter through 5 2/3 innings until Elvis Andrus singled. The right-hander struck out seven with just one walk in the seven innings as Texas simply could not do much against him.
“That’s a really good offensive team,” Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. “That was solid. He had gone 5 2/3 last time, about 89 (pitches), so he had been in the sixth. We were able to graduate him a little bit to the seventh. That was impressive.”
The seven-inning effort was Bundy’s longest in the minors or majors. His third start was almost as good, when the right-hander retired the first 16 Rockies he faced July 27 before giving up two homers and three runs.
Bundy allowed three runs and only two hits in 5 2/3 innings in that game. This time, he did a little better.
“I think keeping the ball in on some of those lefties they had in that lineup and
also mixing it up the whole game, not trying to get into a pattern (helped),” Bundy said. “Just to get six (innings), I was pleased with that and went back out there for the seventh and just had to focus a little bit more and locate a little better.”
The power display by Baltimore (60-45) gave Bundy (4-3) more than enough support.
All four home runs were solo shots. Alvarez led off the fifth with a homer for the first run, and Jones started the sixth the same way.
Then, in the seventh, Alvarez hit his second homer — the 14th multi-homer game for an Orioles player this year, tying Baltimore with the Seattle Mariners for the major league lead in that stat.
The shot to right ended Texas starter Yu Darvish’s night with the Orioles on top 3-0. Wieters then greeted reliever Dario Alvarez with his homer, the 11th time this season that Baltimore (60-45) hit back-to-back homers.
Chris Davis added an RBI single in the eighth.
The Rangers (62-45) did not get a runner into scoring position until the eighth when they loaded the bases with one out against Brad Brach.
Andrus drove in a run on a sacrifice fly to center. Darren O’Day entered two batters later with the bases loaded again and struck out Ian Desmond to end the inning.
“I tip my hat to O’Day,” Desmond said. “Three-two slider. I felt good. That was the best at-bat of the night for me. Obviously, he got me out, but sometimes that’s the way it goes.”
O’Day closed it out in the ninth for his third save this season. He sealed the 518th victory with the Orioles for manager Buck Showalter, moving him past Paul Richards into second place in team history.
Darvish (2-3) allowed three runs and six hits in his 6 1/3 innings. He struck out nine while issuing only one walk, but Bundy outdueled him.
“I thought Yu threw the ball very well,” Texas manager Jeff Banister said. “He made three mistakes. He made great progress, in my opinion. Had to pitch almost flawless with what Bundy was doing to us tonight.”
Neither team did much on offense until Alvarez led off the fifth with a homer to right off Darvish. The designated hitter lined a 2-2 pitch into the seats to give Baltimore a 1-0 lead, and the Orioles never trailed.
