More on Bundy's gem and Mancini's stellar rookie season

You know that a pitcher must have been exceptional when the number of "pies" to his face during his postgame interview exceeds the hits he allowed.

Dylan Bundy wore three of them last night delivered by three of his teammates - his reward for holding the Mariners to Kyle Seager's bunt single in the fourth inning.

No Oriole had tossed a complete-game shutout since Miguel González on Sept. 3, 2014 versus the Reds. The last one-hitter came from Chris Tillman and Zach Britton on July 18, 2015 in Detroit. Jason Hammel had the last individual one-hitter on June 16, 2012 in Atlanta. Ubaldo Jiménez had the last complete game on Sept. 5, 2016 against the Rays at Tropicana Field.

Bundy appeared to be done after the eighth inning, his pitch count at 105 and Britton beginning to warm. How often does Britton get up without being used?

As if fearing that manager Buck Showalter would change his mind, Bundy ran to the mound for the top of the ninth while teammates were climbing the dugout steps.

Still no sign of Showalter after Bundy hit Robinson Canó. I couldn't believe my eyes. The manager was letting him go batter-to-batter, and Bundy responded with two ground balls and his 12th strikeout.

According to ESPN Stats & Info, Bundy's three 10-plus strikeout games this month are more than any other Orioles pitcher has totaled in the last 10 years.

Bundy has 13 wins and a 3.94 ERA in 25 starts. He's up to 155 1/3 innings, Showalter and pitching coach Roger McDowell skillfully manipulating them.

The Orioles seemed to be fine with Seager's bunt. It was only the fourth inning. No unwritten rules had been violated. And the shift worked in the Orioles' favor in the ninth.

Meanwhile, Trey Mancini has proven to be the ultimate tease when it comes to rookie slumps.

He goes cold at the plate and snaps out of it, heating up again and again to disprove the theory that the league will figure him out, that adjustments will be made by opposing pitchers that he can't handle.

Mancini endured a 3-for-23 stretch earlier this month, the hits coming in the same Aug. 6 game against the Tigers. He responded by going 6-for-13 with two home runs in the first three games in Oakland.

Another rough stretch awaited, with Mancini collecting two hits in 26 at-bats to lower his average from .297 to .282. He stayed in the lineup, in large part because he still made plays in left field and was an alternative to Chris Davis at first base.

Showalter's trust in Mancini continues to be rewarded. The former eighth-round draft pick out of Notre Dame had 14 hits in his last 27 at-bats before going 0-for-4 last night.

"It takes a while when you're kind of in a rut to get out of it," he said. "It's more mental than anything. It takes a lot of conversations with people around here and work in the cage. Get here early, study some film and see what I'm maybe doing.

"There's a lot of factors that go into it, but I'd say for the most part, talking to people around here because everybody's experienced streaks like that. That helps the most."

Mancini went 11-for-51 in April, but his output included two doubles and five home runs. He batted .342/.398/.479 in 22 games in May and .340/.387/.630 in 27 games in June. He batted .265/.314/.418 in 26 games in July, but it included a stretch of 12 hits over eight games, a 5-for-12 stretch in Texas and a 4-for-12 surge to end the month.

Mancini began last night with a .295/.358/.516 slash line in 25 games this month.

"Just when it seemed like he's going to become the norm to what young players usually do, he gets right back in the fight and gets involved even more heavily in it," Showalter said.

"The thing I'm most impressed with is, obviously the offensive part of it, but his baserunning has been good and his play in left field has only gotten better and better and better as the season's gone on. It's really a tribute to him and the work he does every day with Wayne Kirby, and it's been fun to watch."

Everyone can watch Mancini again tonight when he's in the lineup against Mariners left-hander Ariel Miranda, acquired from the Orioles last summer for Wade Miley.

Miranda is 8-6 with a 4.62 ERA and 1.199 WHIP in 26 starts this season and his 31 home runs allowed rank second in the majors. He hasn't lasted more than 5 2/3 innings in his five August starts.

Miranda has posted a 3.61 ERA and 1.034 WHIP in 12 home starts and a 5.77 ERA and 1.383 WHIP in 14 road starts. He's never faced the Orioles.

Tim Beckham is 1-for-3 with two strikeouts against Miranda and Seth Smith is 0-for-1 with a strikeout.

Jiménez faced the Mariners on Aug. 16 in Seattle and allowed six runs and eight hits, with two hit batters, in 4 1/3 innings in a 7-6 loss. Yonder Alonso homered off him.

Jiménez allowed five runs and nine hits over five innings against the Athletics in his next start, serving up three home runs in a 6-4 loss. He hasn't gone more than 5 2/3 innings in his four outings this month.

A 7.43 ERA in April has been followed by a 5.96 ERA in May, 6.12 in June, 6.75 in July and 6.64 in August.

Jiménez is 2-4 with a 6.50 ERA and 1.602 WHIP in eight career starts versus the Mariners. Nelson Cruz is 2-for-19 with 10 strikeouts, but Canó is 10-for-20 with four doubles and two home runs.

Alonso is 4-for-7 with a double and home run and Mike Zunino is 3-for-3 with two doubles and a home run.