O's game blog: Dylan Bundy pitches series finale against Rays

The Orioles and Tampa Bay Rays have exchanged 7-1 results the last two games, with the Orioles winning last night. A Baltimore win today would give the Orioles a 2-2 split in this series and a 4-3 homestand before they play two games in Washington starting Tuesday night.

Pedro Severino hit his first career grand slam last night, and Hanser Alberto and Jonathan Villar added back-to-back homers in the O's fourth inning. Severino connected for his slam with two outs in the third inning, producing his 11th homer. Severino had been 0-for-6 this year with the bases loaded and 1-for-13 in his career.

John Means gave the O's a strong seven-inning outing, allowing just one run. He is now 9-9 with an ERA of 3.61 after his 100-pitch outing. It was the Orioles' 11th start this year of seven or more innings and the club's 31st quality start.

On the mound today, right-hander Dylan Bundy (5-13, 5.03 ERA) makes his 25th start. The Orioles are 8-16 in Bundy outings, but they won on Tuesday night against Kansas City, when he gave up five hits and one run over seven innings.

In 13 home starts, Bundy is 1-8 with a 5.16 ERA and a 1.368 WHIP and the Orioles are 3-10 in those games. In four August starts, Bundy is 0-2 with a 4.13 ERA.

This season, he's made three starts against the Rays, going 1-2 with a 6.75 ERA. In 13 career games against Tampa Bay, he is 4-6 with an ERA of 6.39, allowing 21 homers in 63 1/3 innings.

The Rays will go with an opener today in right-hander Diego Castillo (2-6, 3.44 ERA). He has made four starts as an opener among his 50 games this season. In those games, he has allowed five hits and three runs (two earned) in four innings. Over his past 12 games, Castillo has an ERA of 1.64, allowing 10 hits in 11 innings.

Lefty Jalen Beeks (5-3, 4.10 ERA) is expected to throw the bulk innings today for Tampa Bay following Castillo. Beeks had a WHIP this season of 1.422, allowing 9.3 hits per nine with 3.5 walks and 7.5 strikeouts. Over his past two games, he has allowed nine runs (seven earned) and 12 hits in 10 innings. In one game this year against Baltimore on April 18, he gave up three runs in three innings.

The O's bullpen owns an ERA of 1.59 since Aug. 20, allowing three earned runs over 17 innings. The Orioles are just 1-for-21 in this series with runners in scoring position. Villar has 52 hits since the All-Star break, second-most in the majors to Cleveland's Francisco Lindor with 53.

The Orioles are off on Monday and they play a two-game series at Washington beginning Tuesday night. The pitching matchup for that game is right-hander Aaron Brooks (3-7, 6.21 ERA) against left-hander Patrick Corbin (10-5, 3.17 ERA). On Wednesday night, righty Asher Wojciechowski (2-6, 4.67 ERA) pitches against right-hander Max Scherzer (9-5, 2.41 ERA) at Nats Park.