Bundy walks into trouble in season debut (O's win 7-5, updated)

NEW YORK - Dylan Bundy couldn't begin to warm up for today's start, his first of the 2019 season, until the weather turned colder and the rain picked up in intensity.

A delay clocked at 3 hours, 17 minutes didn't provide much relief for a pitcher who wanted to avoid the other kind for a while. The temperature kept dropping, down to 47 degrees at first pitch. The precipitation stopped and started again. But the Yankees took the field, Jonathan Villar stepped into the box and baseball was played.

And Bundy sat in the dugout. And kept waiting.

Spotted a four-run lead, Bundy didn't make it out of the fourth inning. Too many walks, too many pitches. He twice loaded the bases, and John Means let all three inherited runners score after replacing him with two outs in the fourth.

An 11-pitch walk to Brett Gardner and a two-run single by Aaron Judge preceded a strikeout of Giancarlo Stanton while Bundy leaned against the dugout railing.

Bundy issued five walks and struck out seven batters in 3 2/3 innings. Only two hits allowed and no runs until he stood in the dugout.

Orioles pitching walked 14 batters in the first two games of the series and Bundy kept the total rising. It's a point that will be addressed. The fix won't be as easy.

Villar provided a 5-3 lead for the Orioles in the fifth with a one-out single and stolen base, another Gary Sánchez throwing error and Dwight Smith Jr.'s RBI single to left over a drawn-in infield.

Bundy threw 93 pitches, 55 for strikes. No home runs allowed after leading the majors with 41 last season.

Renato Núñez staked him to a quick lead with a three-run shot off J.A. Happ in the top of the first inning. The ball traveled 414 feet with an exit velocity of 109 mph, according to Statcast.

Núñez didn't need to check the numbers. He knew the ball was gone, dropping his bat upon contact, lowering his head and breaking into his home run trot.

A 93 mph fastball was demolished and the Orioles had their first home run of the season.

Smith doubled with one out and Trey Mancini reached on his fourth infield hit before Núñez came to the plate, serving again as the designated hitter. Joey Rickard walked with two outs before Chris Davis flied to left-center field, a 397-foot out to the warning track.

Happ already was up to 34 pitches in one inning.

He was further down on the scoreboard in the third inning after Mancini homered to center field, the ball landing on the netting over Monument Park. The Orioles led 4-0. Fans were livid, one guy below the press box screaming for manager Aaron Boone to remove Happ and complaining that they were losing to "a Triple-A team."

Happ lasted four innings and 75 pitches. Luis Cessa replaced him and gave up Smith's run-scoring single.

Bundy needed 16 pitches to complete the bottom of the first, striking out Judge on an 81 mph slider after three straight four-seam fastballs. He walked Stanton on four pitches and Luke Voit flied to right.

The closely scrutinized fastball sat at 91 mph by the end of the inning after it registered only 87 on his first pitch.

Bundy struck out Sánchez on a 92 mph fastball and Greg Bird looking at a changeup while retiring the side in order in the second, and he left the bases loaded in the third by getting a called third strike on Voit with an 80 mph slider.

Judge struck out for the second time, but Bundy also issued two walks - losing a 10-pitch battle with DJ LeMahieu. Orioles pitching had walked 17 batters in 20 innings in the series.

The 18th walk and fourth by Bundy came with one out in the fourth inning after a single and another strikeout. Gleyber Torres went down swinging at a 91 mph fastball for the second out and Bundy's seventh strikeout, but LeMahieu walked and Means entered the game.

The rain stopped, the walks continued and the Orioles were clinging to another lead.

Update: Means hung a changeup to Sánchez with the count full and two outs in the seventh, and the resulting home run cut the lead to 5-4. Means has been charged with one run in 3 1/3 innings.

Update II: Joey Rickard hit a two-run homer to right field off former Orioles farmhand Stephen Tarpley in the eighth inning to increase the lead to 7-4.

Update III: The Orioles loaded the bases on three walks with no outs in the ninth, but failed to score. Mychal Givens, who worked a scoreless eighth, ran out of gas in the ninth, allowing an RBI single to LeMahieu, and Paul Fry relieved with two on and the tying run at the plate. Fry struck out pinch-hitter Troy Tulowitzki to end the game. The Orioles win 7-5, taking two of three from the Yankees.

Means gets his first major league victory. He allowed a run on five hits in 3 1/3 innings, walking one and striking out five.

Hyde on Orioles pitchers escaping jams: "How about John Means? He saved up. Just an incredible job. We were short already in the bullpen big time today and for him to eat up the innings that he did was just outstanding. Gave us a chance to add on. Just a great job by everybody."

Hyde on bringing Givens back for the ninth: "It's the last thing I wanted to do, honestly, was to stretch him out like that. I was hoping we'd score in the top of the ninth, honestly. If we score there, he's not in the game. But he said he felt great and he wanted to go back out, and we had Fry ready. He gets a quick out. It's not how I wanted it to go in that inning, but he'll have a couple of days off."

Hyde on whether the Orioles need to add a pitcher for the series in Toronto: "We're kind of in a bind in some ways. We saved some guys tonight. We should be OK tomorrow. We're looking for Dave Hess to have a good start for us."

Hyde on beating Yankees twice: "There's a lot of good teams. All I care about is our club, to be 100 percent honest. I care about our club, I care about our guys, I care about how we play, I care about the energy we play with, I care about getting better, I care about health of our guys. Our club, for me, is what matters. Yea, I mean, there's good opponents. That's a good club, and I have an appreciation for a lot of teams. But really, my focus is on our team and how we play. I'm happy with how we played these first three games."

Núñez on his first-inning homer: "As soon as I hit it, I knew that one was gone. It feels amazing."

Bundy on walks and strikeouts: "It means I'm just missing off the plate, and then when I was missing off the plate, they were swinging at it. They were able to take some good pitches there, and take their walk. That definitely drove the pitch-count up, and you can't do that. You've just got to make a little bit better pitches there with two strikes or three balls."

Means on first win: "It feels good. It feels really good, just to get it out of the way on my first outing this year and not have it linger over my head. I was telling Fry about it."

Means on his changeup: "I don't know, I was just feeling it tonight. Usually, it's kind of my second or third pitch. Today, I didn't have my best fastball and the changeup was working, so I stuck with it."