Dylan Bundy with a scoreless start, but O's with another loss (with quotes)

Dylan Bundy was pitching like dealin' Dylan again. But could the Orioles score even a single run to support him tonight? They started a lineup minus Manny Machado, who was sick and missed the game.

They could not as they lost to Boston 2-0 to start a three-game series at Camden Yards. The Sox broke the scoreless tie with a pair of sac flies in the 12th off Mychal Givens.

Givens had fanned Mitch Moreland, coming from behind 3-0 in the count, to strand the bases loaded in the 11th. But in the 12th, Xander Bogaerts single and advanced to third on a Rafael Devers double. A hit by pitch was followed by sac flies from Brock Holt and Jackie Bradley Jr.

When Craig Kimbrel closed it out, Boston improved to 45-22 with its 17th win in the last 25 games. The Orioles (19-46) have lost five in a row, 12 of 14 and 18 the last 24 games.

Much earlier, against the team that leads the majors in runs, batting average and extra-base hits and ranks second in home runs, Bundy pitched a gem.

He threw eight scoreless allowing just three singles. No Red Sox runner even got as far as third base. He walked two and fanned seven and lowered his ERA to 3.66. He threw 104 pitches, 66 for strikes, going heavy to his fastball and slider.

After he fanned two batters to end a 17-pitch top of the first he needed just 23 pitches over the next three frames to end the fourth at 40. He threw eight in the second, 10 in third and five in the fourth.

Bundy began the night as a pitcher on a roll. He was 3-2 with a 2.57 ERA over his previous five starts. In that span he allowed 23 hits in 35 innings with 10 walks and 40 strikeouts. Bundy had gone 3-6 with a 4.79 ERA in 14 career appearances versus Boston.

After this outing he has back-to-back scoreless starts covering 15 innings versus the Mets and Red Sox. Over his past six starts, his ERA is 2.09. This was his second career scoreless start versus Boston.

The Orioles missed a big chance to break the 0-0 tie in the home seventh against knuckleballer Steve Wright. With two outs, Chance Sisco was hit by a pitch for the ninth time this year. Jace Peterson followed with a bunt single and Joey Rickard walked to load the bases and Joe Kelly replaced Wright. Kelly would strand all three runners when he fanned Adam Jones with a 97 mph fastball.

The Orioles went 1-for-27 with runners in scoring position in Toronto. Tonight they went 0-for-8 and left 13 runners on base.

Wright allowed four hits in 6 2/3 scoreless with three walks and five strikeouts. He lowered his ERA to 1.21 and extended his AL-leading scoreless innings streak to 22 2/3.

The Orioles were shutout for the seventh time. They've scored 14 runs the last seven games and 28 in the last 15. They have been held to three runs or less 18 times in the last 21 games. They are 3-23 when they do not homer.

Postgame quotes:

Bundy on having good stuff against Boston: "Felt all right. Felt like me and Chance (Sisco) had good command of the fastball especially in to most of those guys, so we were able to play off of that. I tried to get the curveball in there later in the game for strikes early in the count. It worked sometimes and sometimes it didn't. Then (use the) slider for chases every now and then. Try to keep guys off balance and get them out."

Bundy on pitching so well his last six starts: "Yeah, you could say that. Body feels good and arm feels great. Just taking the ball every five days and trying to give our team a chance to win."

Bundy on the lack of runs: "It's frustrating for everyone. Everybody knows that. Just try to come back to work tomorrow and strap up for another game."

Givens on the loss: "It was a good game all the way. There was momentum being shut down on both sides. Great performance with Steven Wright and great performance by Dylan Bundy. A lot of things aren't going our way. We're just trying to pinch away and figure something out to turn this around."

Givens on whether lack of runs is frustrating: "No, that is not in my hands. They are trying their best. We've been having a great offense for all these years. Baseball is really hard. It's a hard thing to do."