O's notes on Bundy, O'Day, the offense and more

With each outing, it might be hard for Orioles fans to contain their enthusiasm over rookie right-hander Dylan Bundy. After taking a no-hitter through 5 1/3 innings in his start last week against Colorado, last night he took one through 5 2/3 innings against Texas.

While Bundy gave up two homers that spoiled his outing against the Rockies, he held the Rangers scoreless on one single over seven innings. It was a special outing, as he recorded 21 outs on 88 pitches. He was pitch efficient and he was good.

Bundy gave up four runs in his first start on July 17 against Tampa Bay. But over his past three starts he has pitched to an ERA of 1.53.

Colorado and Texas are two of the seven highest scoring teams in the majors. But the last two games, those clubs are a combined 3-for-40 (.075) against Bundy. Over his past 10 games, Bundy has pitched to an ERA of 1.78 with nine walks and 43 strikeouts over 35 1/3 innings.

I asked catcher Matt Wieters if last night was one of those outings where a starting pitcher has both all his pitches going well and has solid command of them as well.

"I wouldn't say everything went perfect," Wieters said. "I actually think his breaking stuff was probably sharper in his last outing. But his fastball command was much better tonight. If he can have this kind of stuff and be able to mix and match, he's going to be fun."

If you missed it, click here to read the postgame quotes on Bundy and the win last night.

O'Day's big out: It might get lost a bit with Bundy having such a special outing last night, but right-hander Darren O'Day got a huge out with the bases loaded to end the top of the eighth. Trailing 4-0 at the time, Texas had pulled within 4-1 against Brad Brach and had the bases loaded when O'Day came on against Ian Desmond. O'Day struck Desmond out to end the frame and then pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to get his third save.

The Orioles have to be delighted to have O'Day back off the disabled list and pitching like his old self. In four games since coming off the injured list, he has thrown 4 2/3 scoreless innings on one hit with seven strikeouts.

O'Day thrives in bases loaded situations. Last year, American League hitters went 1-for-13 against him with the bases loaded and this year are 0-for-5. Sometimes it seems the tighter and more tense the situation is, the more O'Day likes it.

"My one inning at Bowie really got me in the mood," O'Day said with a laugh. "Because I've been doing that a while helped a lot. I think that is because I pitch better in those situations because the hitters are aggressive and they want to get those runners in. That is when I enjoy being in the game. It feels good to be back and that is what I play the game for. You know, helping the team getting out of those situations."

In this specific case, O'Day stranded three runners to help out his bullpen mate Brach.

"What a first half he had," O'Day said. "Said it for a long time - Brad is going to be a closer at some point. He's picked me up quite a few times so nice to return the favor."

Buck's milestone victory: Last night's win was the 518th in the Orioles managerial career for skipper Buck Showalter. It moves him past Paul Richards and into second place on the club's all-time list. Only Hall of Famer Earl Weaver, with 1,480, has more wins as Orioles manager. Showalter also moved into sole possession of 28th on MLB's all-time managerial wins list with No. 1,400 last night as he passed Hall of Famer Wilbert Robinson. Next up for him to catch on that list is Jimmy Dykes who is 27th with 1,406 wins. Dykes was the first manager in Orioles history in 1954, when the team went 54-100. He managed the club for just that one season.

Is the offense perking up?: The Orioles are not exactly scoring a ton of runs as they had in June, but they've scored five, one, six and five in their past four games as they try to break out of a slump. They've scored just 55 runs in 18 games (3.1 per game) in going 9-9 since the All-Star break.

The Orioles hit four solo homers last night - two by Pedro Alvarez - and it was their first four-homer game since Game 2 of a doubleheader on June 25 against Tampa Bay. The Orioles have now homered in seven consecutive games. Adam Jones hit his 21st last night. Jones has homered in consecutive games for the fourth time this season and he has hit four over his past seven games.