Porcello goes distance to beat O's in series opener (with quotes)

Has Dylan Bundy hit a wall, or was he just getting hit hard tonight?

Bundy threw a career-high 99 pitches in five innings and left with the Red Sox leading 5-1. He surrendered six hits, including two-run homers to Mookie Betts in the third and David Ortiz in the fifth.

Manager Buck Showalter had left-hander Brian Duensing warming in the fifth and brought him in to start the sixth.

There would be no comeback against Cy Young candidate Rick Porcello, leaving the Orioles four games behind Boston in the American League East following a 5-2 loss before 18,456 at Camden Yards.

The Blue Jays are in Seattle tonight. For now, they're a half-game behind the Orioles for the top wild card.

Porcello went the distance tonight for the third time this season. He held the Orioles to two runs and four hits, including Adam Jones' solo home run in the eighth. He had thrown only 79 pitches going into the ninth and finished at 89 after retiring the side in order.

In his last five starts, Bundy has worked four, 5 2/3, 3 2/3, 5 1/3 and five innings. He's won twice, but there's a decline in production that leaves him open to speculation based on his rookie status and past injuries.

Bundy has thrown 104 2/3 innings and there are 12 regular season games remaining on the schedule, as well as a possible trip to the playoffs. He insists that he feels good, but Showalter and pitching coach Dave Wallace continue to monitor him - same with everyone else on the staff.

Since shutting out the Yankees over 5 2/3 innings on Sept. 2, Bundy has surrendered 13 runs and 19 hits over 14 innings in three outings. He's also walked 19 batters, including a pair tonight, in his last six starts over 29 2/3 innings.

Bundy threw 23 pitches in a scoreless first inning that included his throwing error and a two-out walk to Betts. He stranded Jackie Bradley Jr. on second base in the second inning, his pitch count increasing to 42, but Bogaerts singled with one out in the third and Betts unloaded with two down.

Betts sandwiched two walks about the home run, his ninth against the Orioles this season and his eighth at Camden Yards. He began the night batting .381 versus the Orioles and was 12-for-24 in Baltimore.

Just. Walk. Him.

Bundy had his first 1-2-3 inning in the fourth, but Andrew Benintendi opened the fifth by doubling to left-center field and scoring on Dustin Pedroia's single.

Bogaerts lined out and Ortiz reached the flag court in right field to send Red Sox fans - and there are lots of them in town - into a frenzy.

Bundy has allowed 15 runs and 31 hits in 20 2/3 career innings against the Red Sox in seven games, including three starts.

The Orioles did nothing against Porcello - including run up his pitch count - until Manny Machado was drilled with two outs in the fourth. Porcello threw 15 pitches in two innings and 22 over three.

Machado took exception to being hit despite Porcello breezing through the start and having no real reason to throw at anyone. Machado glared as he made the slow walk to first base, Porcello moved toward him and they exchanged words.

Reading Porcello's lips on the MASN broadcast, I caught him saying, "I'm not trying to (expletive) hit you, bro."

If only the Orioles could have hit Porcello, who won his 21st game after they denied him in his last start. They won 1-0 on Mark Trumbo's home run, the only mistake Porcello made that night.

Updated:

Agent Scott Boras was at Camden Yards tonight. He was scheduled to meet with executive vice president Dan Duquette regarding Matt Wieters and perhaps a few other clients. He also represents Zach Britton and Pedro Alvarez.

Here's Showalter:

On Porcello: "He had great command. You see on the board the number of strikes. It wasn't like we were swinging at a lot of pitches outside the zone, either. That's why he's won 21 games. It's not always the guy who throws the hardest, even though he's got plenty of that. A lot of different pitches and command of them.

"We knew we were going to have to have a similar outing like we had in Boston to have a chance there, but we stayed engaged. Real good job out of the bullpen by some young players. We just didn't mount a whole lot or gave us much room to free will at all."

On Bundy:

"I think it's about the Boston Red Sox. Dylan's doing well. I'm real proud of him. He's going to be a good major league pitcher. Stays healthy, like you say about any young pitcher, it's going to be a lot of fun to watch him pitch in the future.

"He was probably disappointed, but he kept us engaged in it and that's why their club's leading about 20 points the next team. They're a good team. But, our guys pitched well enough to be more in that game, but Porcello had more to do with that than anything else."

On the first inning:

"The guy (Bogaerts) is probably out of the lane, but you can't review that play. You're going to have to grind. They do a great job of grinding at-bats, a lot like our guys do at times. But they're pretty consistent making you ...

"They've got some real depth to their batting order like a lot of teams do in the American League East. I think that's what you look at more when you're dealing with young pitchers, how they handle that grind of every pitch, the intensity it takes to throw every pitch."

On Porcello getting guys out in the strike zone:

"You look at the strikes, I'm sure that's what Manny had in mind, the guy's dotting up pretty good. Obviously dotted Manny. His command, that's been his forte. He's obviously evolved a little bit as a pitcher from just kind of, 'Here's what I am, here's what I'm going to do.' He's got a lot of different weapons and it's been reflected in the year he's had for them.

"When you're able to work three or four quadrants of the plate, it's almost like being out of the zone. You get in a little bit of a rocking chair, hitters at this level try to box out a pitch that you can't throw over and can't get where you want to get it. Now it cuts down the percentages of what you have to be ready for. He threw his curveball over for strikes more than he did his outing over there."

On Porcello hitting Machado:

"Well first of all, in the American League it's very easy to say, 'Oh, he wasn't throwing at him,' but pitchers don't have to wear that. It hurts, OK? You all go stand in there and hammer a ball off your foot or get hit in the rib cage or wherever. There's an initial reaction. Manny understands, but it's not 'que sera sera', you're happy about everything.

"Got on with the game. Tim (Timmons) did what he felt like he needed to do. Just like Tyler wasn't throwing at anybody. I understand where they were coming from. But it's another thing about I think if pitchers had a feel for how that feels ... Obviously, he's not doing that with Trum (Mark Trumbo) and the guys hitting behind him, but I can understand Manny's reaction."