O's game blog: Bundy pitches series finale against Padres

Right-hander Dylan Bundy (3-9, 4.59 ERA) gets the start this afternoon as the Orioles host San Diego to conclude a two-game series. The Padres hit four homers in last night's 8-3 win, including one by Manny Machado, who drove in two runs.

Over his last seven starts, Bundy has posted a 3.86 ERA. Bundy made five starts in the month of May, going 2-2 with a 2.64 ERA. He held opponents to a .195 (22-for-113) batting average and four home runs, and his 2.64 ERA in May ranked tied for ninth-best among American League hurlers. In June, Bundy is 1-3 with a 4.64 ERA in four starts.

Bundy had a streak of eight consecutive starts in which he allowed three earned runs or fewer, but that run ended Thursday in Seattle. He gave up four runs in 5 1/3 innings at T-Mobile Park.

Bundy will be making his ninth day start this season. He's gone 0-6 with a 5.44 ERA during the day, compared to a 3-3 record with a 3.69 ERA in six nighttime starts. Bundy has held opposing three-hole hitters to a .118 average (4-for-34) with one home run and 13 strikeouts. For his career, opposing three-hole hitters are batting just .202 against Bundy, which is his lowest clip against any spot in the lineup.

In Bundy's first 15 starts this season, he has averaged 17.4 pitches per inning, the fourth-highest average in the American League and ninth-highest in the majors. Last year, he averaged 16.6 pitches per inning, and for his career he has a 17.0 pitch-per-inning average.

San Diego's starter is lefty Matt Strahm (2-6, 4.85 ERA). In three starts in June he is 0-2 with an ERA of 12.08 and WHIP of 1.895, after allowing 17 earned runs over 12 2/3 innings. For the season, he allows 9.3 hits per every nine innings with 1.8 homers, 2.1 walks and 8.1 strikeouts.

Strahm throws his four-seam fastball 40 percent of the time, and the pitch has an average velocity of 91.2 mph. He has used his slider 33 percent, his changeup 15 percent and curveball 12 percent.

San Diego ended a three-game losing streak last night and is 6-3 in interleague games, after going 7-13 versus the AL last season. The Padres are batting .414 (12-for-29) in their past three games with runners in scoring position.

The Orioles' Hanser Alberto today reached the number of plate appearances needed to quality for the American League leaders. A player needs 3.1 PAs per team game. The O's have played 79 games, so Alberto needed 245 plate appearances. After last night he has exactly 245. His batting average of .318 ranks as tied for third in the AL. His average is tied for eighth-best in the major leagues.

AL batting leaders

.333 - DJ LeMahieu, New York
.326 - Jorge Polanco, Minnesota
.318 - Hanser Alberto, Orioles and Michael Brantley, Houston