Catcher Caleb Joseph on Dylan Bundy's recent struggles

So how could Orioles right-hander Dylan Bundy pitch so well over his first five starts and so poorly over his last three?

It hopefully for him reached rock bottom last night when he faced seven hitters and gave up five hits, two walks and four homers in falling behind 7-0, without getting an out. Bundy is the first pitcher in the modern era (since 1900) to allow four or more homers without recording an out. The Royals tied their club record for most homers in one inning. They went on to score 10 runs in the first. That was the most given up by the Orioles in the opening inning since they allowed 12 on July 30, 2011 in Game 2 of a doubleheader at New York-AL.

In his first five starts, Bundy went 1-2, but with an ERA of 1.42, allowing just one homer over 31 2/3 innings. Now, over his past three games, he is 0-3 with an ERA of 19.00. In nine innings he has given up 23 hits and 22 runs (19 earned) with nine homers. Opponents are 23-for-50 (.460) against him in the last three games after batting .220 off him the first five. Bundy gave up two homers to lefty batters last night and he allows an average of .366 and OPS of .983 versus lefty batters this year. They are cleaning up against him.

Bundy said he is fine physically but did admit to some groin tightness during his previous start in Anaheim.

How did this turn so badly so fast for Bundy?

"My mechanics feel the same," Bundy said. "It just seems like I'm missing off the plate, down or up, and then missing right down the middle and they hit it over the fence. Just keep working, every day in between starts. And if I've gotta throw an extra bullpen I will to correct it and try to get that extra life on the ball that I had the first five starts."

Caleb Joseph caught Bundy last night.

"You are looking for the crispness on pitches and it just hasn't been there the past couple starts," said Joseph. "He's obviously capable and there may or may not be other things kind of going on or whatever. He wants to get back to that kind of crisp fastball and crisp slider and just seeing a lot of kind of lazy spin and he knows it. Even just the location. The location is kind of abnormal for him.

"It happens really quick in the big leagues. Not really shocked but extremely disheartening. You are excited about coming back home and you want to have a good first game of the homestand. Guys are still optimistic in here and then we start off 10 runs behind. Another gut blow for sure."

The Orioles keep insisting this will turn but they've now lost seven in a row and are 4-21 the last 25 games. At 8-27 (.229) they have the worst record in the majors and are 17 games out of first.

"There is lot of season left and you can't pout," Joseph said. "Somebody is gonna pay down the line. We're going to catch fire here and we're going to be a force to be reckoned with. We've had our share of butt whoopins' the last few weeks and we're ready to hand out some ourselves."

O's pitchers allowed a total of seven earned runs in three games at Oakland and they gave up 15 last night. The team ERA rose from 4.95 to 5.24 and that is its highest since April 4.

Joseph had two hits last night and that is his first multi-hit game of the year. When Anthony Santander singled in a run in the ninth, he ended a run of 21 straight games without an RBI.

The Orioles hit three homers Tuesday night. That was more than they had hit (2) on the six-game road trip.

Farm report: While Bundy failed to get an out last night, three starting pitchers on the O's farm last night combined to allow three hits and one run over 19 innings.

Single-A Frederick beat Lynchburg 9-1 and came two outs shy of its first combined no-hitter since August of 2008. Lefty Brian Gonzalez pitched seven no-hit innings with two walks and seven strikeouts, throwing 101 pitches. Reliever Elvis Araujo pitched the last two innings allowing a one-out double in the ninth.

Gonzalez is now 2-2 with a 3.12 ERA. The Orioles third-round pick in the 2014 draft, Gonzalez has now thrown three consecutive quality starts with an ERA of 1.89 in that span.

Right-hander David Hess took a no-hitter into the seventh and allowed one hit over seven scoreless with 10 strikeouts as Triple-A Norfolk routed Durham 13-0. Hess has allowed one run or less in five of his six starts. He is 2-0 with a 2.12 ERA and a .189 batting average against.

Here is a stat very impressive for Hess. The righty is holding lefty batters to a .131 average and .197 slugging percentage. He is certainly pushing for a callup to Baltimore.

Double-A Bowie lost 2-1 at Altoona. Right-hander Lucas Long entered the rotation in that game with his first start of 2018 and allowed two hits and one run over five innings. Long threw 59 pitches, 44 for strikes in lowering his ERA to 4.91.