Bundy solid, but offense slowed in 7-1 loss to Toronto

For the third time this season, Orioles starter Dylan Bundy gave his team a strong start. For the third time, he got little run support. The Orioles went 0-for-12 tonight with runners in scoring position in a 7-1 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays.

They began a three-game series with the loss to fall to 1-3 at home and to 4-7 for the season. A very chilly but small crowd of 7,915 looked on at Camden Yards.

Toronto turned a 2-1 lead into a 7-1 win, scoring five runs in the ninth. Nestor Cortes Jr. inherited a bases-loaded jam from Mychal Givens and allowed a bases-loaded walk and Josh Donaldson's fourth career grand slam to break it open.

Bundy allowed four hits and two runs over seven innings with two walks and 10 strikeouts. He threw 101 pitches and gave his team a deep start and its bullpen some much-needed rest.

Bundy fell two short of his career high for strikeouts while producing his fourth career game with 10 or more. He got 19 swings and misses tonight including 12 on his 27 sliders. His ERA is 1.35 through three starts, but he is 0-1 after taking this loss. The team has scored just six runs in his three starts.

Toronto scored first when former Oriole Steve Pearce hit a long homer to left to score two runs in the third. Curtis Granderson drew a leadoff walk. Two outs later, Pearce hit a 92 mph fastball 438 feet for the 2-0 lead. It was his third homer. An inning earlier, he had singled for his 500th career hit.

The Orioles offense put the first two runners on base in the first and second innings tonight against lefty J.A. Happ. But each inning, he struck out the next three hitters. So the O's went 0-for-6 with runners in scoring with six strikeouts through two innings.

The offensive frustration ended briefly in the third when Manny Machado led off with a long homer to make it 2-1. He blasted No. 3 out to left. Machado produced a 111 mph exit velocity and drove the ball 437 feet for his third homer in 30 career at-bats versus Happ.

The O's thought they had tied it 2-2 in the fifth, but Adam Jones was ruled out on a 1-2-3 double play with the bases loaded. He was called for running outside the baseline when he was hit by catcher Russell Martin's throw. So instead of a tie game on an error, the inning ended with Baltimore down by one.

Happ got the win allowing five hits and one run over six innings with three walks and nine strikeouts. He is 2-1 with an ERA of 3.94.

The Orioles began the night batting .203 as a team with runners in scoring position, 13th in the American League. That average will go down after this game. They began the night leading the majors with 116 strikeouts and they added 11 to their total.