O's game blog: Dylan Bundy looks for first win as homestand begins

The Orioles are back home after their winless road trip and tonight they open their longest homestand of the season. They'll play 10 games over the next 10 days. The homestand begins with four games vs. Cleveland and then three each against Tampa Bay and Detroit.

Tonight the Orioles look to end a six-game losing streak. They are 2-4 at home and have lost five of six series' thus far, getting swept three straight times by Houston, Boston and Detroit.

Cleveland, which led the American League with 102 wins in 2017, is off to a 9-7 start with six wins in its last eight games. The Tribe is 1/2-game back of Minnesota for the AL Central lead.

Cleveland ranks last in the AL in team batting at .208. Like the Orioles, they have struggled to consistently score runs. The Tribe averages 3.50 runs/game and the Orioles are at 3.47.

But Cleveland's pitching ranks third in the AL in team ERA at 2.75. Over the last 11 games, the Tribe's ERA is 1.74. Cleveland has allowed three runs or less 12 times this year and 105 since the start of 2017 to lead MLB.

Orioles right-hander Dylan Bundy (0-2, 1.40 ERA) will make his fifth start tonight. While he remains winless, the Orioles are just 1-3 in his starts, with a lack of runs keeping them out of the win column more than the one time.

Bundy's slider has been an outstanding pitch this year. He throws his slider 27 percent of the time and batters are hitting just .125 against it. He gets a swing and miss on 35 percent of his sliders.

Bundy begins tonight ranked tied for fifth in the AL in ERA. Lefty batters are hitting .333 with an OPS of .852 against him and right-handed batters are hitting .104/.340.

Right-hander Trevor Bauer (1-1, 2.25 ERA) will make his fourth start for Cleveland. He has allowed two runs or less in each of his first three starts. Over 20 innings he has allowed 15 hits and five runs with seven walks and 21 strikeouts. Lefty batters hit .211 off Bauer and righty batters are hitting .189.

Bauer and Bundy were selected one spot apart in the first round of the 2011 First-Year Player Draft. Bauer was drafted with the third overall pick and the Orioles took Bundy fourth.

Trey Mancini is batting .333 (19-for-57) with a .397 on base percentage in 13 games when batting leadoff. He is tied for seventh in the majors and ranks fourth in the AL when batting in the leadoff spot and his .397 OBP from leadoff ranks fourth in the AL and ninth in the majors. He's hit safely in 11-of-13 games while batting first, including seven straight in which he is hitting at a .333 (10-for-30) clip.

Single-A Frederick pitcher Cody Sedlock has been placed on the minor league seven-day DL with a right shoulder strain. The O's top pick in the 2016 draft, Sedlock is 0-2 with a 13.50 ERA through three starts for the Keys. Over 9 1/3 innings he has allowed 16 hits and 15 runs (14 earned) with nine walks and six strikeouts.