A few thoughts on Bundy and tonight's game

Did everyone enjoy the off day? Major League Baseball has a new commissioner. Dylan Bundy has a new lat injury. That pretty much covers the news. Rob Manfred - the commissioner, not the technical name for Bundy's injury - shouldn't be confused with WBAL Radio's Fred Manfra. Two different guys. As for Bundy, his season at Single-A Frederick was winding down and I doubt that the Orioles were going to recall him next month, so being shut down isn't a crushing blow. His right elbow is sound. He's building toward 2015, where the Orioles already have set their focus. I wrote "lat," but that's cheating. It's a strain of the right latissimus dorsi, the widest and most powerful muscle of the back. (Please don't take this opportunity to share photos of your widest muscle. Thanks.) Bundy strained his lat while running, according to the Orioles. That's an unusual way to sustain the injury and I can't quite visualize how it happened, but that's really not important. It's not a stretch to consider Bundy's season a success. He pitched competitively and didn't have any setbacks with his elbow. If the Orioles needed him this season, a lot of other pitchers had to go down with injuries or be massive failures. They're supposed to have enough depth to allow him to build up innings and sharpen his command and compete for a job next season. At the very least, get him back to Double-A Bowie and go from there. The Athletics lost again last night, lowering their record to 73-48. The Orioles are 69-50. If you're thinking ahead to home-field advantage and don't believe in jinxes, you can do the math. The Orioles are starting a three-game series tonight at Progressive Field, where they're 24-53, but it will always be The Jake to me. Anyone remember the game in 2000 when Chris Richard matched the club record with 13 total bases? Anyone remember Chris Richard? Kenny Lofton stole five bases that day and hit a walk-off home run in the 13th inning to give the Indians a 12-11 victory. On Aug. 14, 1998, Chris Hoiles became the ninth player in major league history to hit two grand slams in the same game. He connected off Charles Nagy and Ron Villone. Corey Kluber, who starts tonight for the Indians, shut out the Orioles on five hits over seven innings on May 24. He walked two and struck out nine. Nelson Cruz is 3-for-9 with two doubles and a home run against Kluber. He's got an extra-base hit in four consecutive games. J.J. Hardy is 2-for-4 against Kluber, and he may return to the lineup tonight after being diagnosed with a sprained left thumb. He sounded pretty confident that he'd play this weekend. Wei-Yin Chen has made two career starts against the Indians, going 0-1 while allowing 11 earned runs in 13 innings. He hasn't pitched in Cleveland. Michael Brantley is 3-for-5 with a double and triple against Chen, who's walked three batters and struck out 14 in two starts this month. He's allowed one home run over his last three starts. Chen hasn't pitched since Aug. 6 in Toronto, so he's working on eight days rest.