Dylan Bundy got the start this afternoon for the Baltimore Orioles against Minnesota, and appeared to still need to shake some rust off. Bundy’s line: 3.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 0 BB, 3 K. Bundy did have those three strikeouts which were good, but it seems he needs to focus on keeping guys off base. Bundy on his outing:
Quote courtesy of Roch Kubatko, MASNsports
Overall pitch-wise, I thought all of my pitches were better today. Now, the location of it, the fastballs weren’t so good to Cron in both at-bats. Just trying to get a fastball down and away for a strike and it was more thigh-high than it was down in the zone. And then trying to go up and in on him and it wasn’t up or in.
The aforementioned Cron smacked a solo homer in the last of the first. However the Orioles seized the lead in the third inning. Renato Nunez hit a grand slam, giving the Birds a 4-1 lead. Hanser Alberto would add on a sac fly-RBI, and the Birds held a 5-1 lead. Cron would smack a second homer in the last of the third, cutting the Orioles’ lead to 5-3.
Anthony Santander would score on a wild pitch in the last of the eighth to run the score to 6-3. However in garbage time, the top of the ninth, the Birds escalated things a bit further. Martin Cervenka, of the Czech Republic, smacked a three-run homer in the top of the ninth, giving the Birds a 9-3 lead, which after a throwaway homer by Minnesota in the ninth, turned into a 9-4 victory.
David Hess was a huge bright spot for the Orioles today, pitching three full perfect innings – nine up and nine down. Fans shouldn’t worry about Bundy, as he’s going to be on the roster. And he’s going to be ready to go come Opening Day. However Hess didn’t make things easy on the Orioles’ coaches with his outing today. And that’s precisely how they’d like it.
I wouldn’t put too much concern into Bundy at this point. As I’ve said, pitchers can often look to work on certain pitches in these spring outings. That isn’t to say that’s what Bundy was doing today, however it’s something to consider. As I said above, odds are that come the regular season he’s ready to go.
What is promising is that the O’s are adding runs on. That late tack-on run by Santander came on a wild pitch. And when you have traffic on the base paths you can score runs when that happens. Not to mention the three-run homer in the ninth, although I see no scenario in which Cervenka makes the big league team. But if the current team can find ways to tack on runs like that late in games, perhaps we won’t see as many late losses this season.
The Orioles return to Ed Smith Stadium tomorrow as Pittsburgh comes to town. Alex Cobb gets the start for the Birds, and he’ll be opposed by Pittsburgh’s Chris Archer. Game time is set for just after 1 PM.
Birdland Crush 