O's game blog: O's face Dylan Bundy as series begins

The Orioles drafted him No. 4 overall out of an Oklahoma high school in the 2011 First-Year Player Draft. Starting in 2012 and running through the 2019 season, right-hander Dylan Bundy pitched in 127 games with the Orioles. Tonight he will face them for the first time, standing between his former club and their possible ending of an 18-game losing streak.

On Dec. 4, 2019, the club traded Bundy to the Los Angeles Angels for minor leaguer right-handers Kyle Bradish, Kyle Brnovich, Isaac Mattson and Zach Peek. Bundy went 6-3 with a 3.29 ERA in 2020 for his new club and he finished ninth in the American League Cy Young voting. But he is 2-9 with a 6.04 ERA in 22 games this year and briefly lost his rotation spot.

When the Orioles were in Anaheim in early July, Bundy had just been moved out of the rotation. In 89 1/3 innings on the year, he's allowed 88 hits and 19 homers with a 1.332 WHIP, 3.1 walk rate and 8.2 strikeouts per nine innings.

Bundy has thrown better since he re-entered the Angels' rotation on July 29, with an ERA of 3.72 over 19 1/3 innings. Tonight he will make his first start at Camden Yards since Sept. 18, 2019.

During a Zoom interview with Baltimore reporters in early July, Bundy fondly remembered his time as an Oriole.

"It starts with being drafted by them in high school and being in that organization with my brother (Bobby)," he said. "Going to spring training with my brother, getting to the big leagues in 2012 and then, everybody knows, the injuries happened. Got to the big leagues and kind of stayed there and became a starting pitcher with that organization. A lot of good memories there. You know I'm going to remember that place and remember where I started my journey at. Baltimore is a big part of that."

During his successful 2020 year, Bundy was throwing his fastball less and his slider more. But this year, after throwing his fastball 42 percent last year (with an average velocity of 90.2 mph), he is throwing the pitch 51 percent (at 90.9 mph). His slider usage, at 25 percent last season, is now down to 21 percent. The whiff rate on his slider is down from 50 to 37 percent and the slugging percentage against is up from .200 to .452.

During that earlier interview, Bundy admitted his slider has not been as good this year.

"The goal was to throw the slider more (in 2020), and this year, it is not moving quite the same," Bundy said. "Last year, I was able to locate the ball better than this season."

His mound opponent tonight is right-hander Spenser Watkins (2-5, 5.63 ERA), who is having his own issues. In his first three starts with the club, Watkins posted a 1.76 ERA and a .216 batting average against. The O's went 2-1 in those games. But over his past five starts his ERA is 8.37, the average against is .337 with an OPS of .945 and the Orioles are 0-5.

The 28-year-old Watkins has allowed 10 earned runs over eight innings his past two games versus Boston and Tampa Bay. He's allowed four runs or more in each of his past five outings.

The Angels (62-64) got swept over the weekend by Cleveland, scoring one run in each of the first two games, zero runs on Sunday night in the Little League Classic in Williamsport, Pa. They are 3-4 on their current 10-game road trip and 6-9 the last 15 games.

From July 2-4, Los Angeles beat the Orioles 8-7, 4-1 and 6-5, winning the first and last games of that series in walk-off fashion in Anaheim. In the series finale that Sunday, Cedric Mullins' pinch-hit homer had given the Orioles a 5-4 lead in the top of the ninth, but they gave up two in the home half to lose the game and get swept. The Orioles have five walk-off losses for the year, and two of them came during that series.

The Angels' Justin Upton has recorded 999 career RBIs. He is one RBI shy of becoming the eighth active player to reach 1,000 RBIs, joining Albert Pujols, Miguel Cabrera, Robinson Canó, Nelson Cruz, Evan Longoria, Ryan Zimmerman and Joey Votto.

On May 18, the Angels placed outfielder Mike Trout, a three-time American League MVP, on the injured list with a right calf strain. At the time of his IL placement, he led the majors in OBP (.466) and OPS (1.090) and ranked fourth in slugging percentage (.624). Trout was transferred to the 60-day IL on June 28.

The Orioles (38-85), out to break an 18-game losing streak, have scored just 18 runs their past 10 games, 28 in 13 games and 47 during the losing streak.

O's Ryan Mountcastle, among AL rookies

* Third in hits - 102
* Second in homers - 21
* Third in doubles - 20
* Second in RBIs - 65
* Tied for second in extra-base hits - 42
* Third in total bases - 187
* Tied for first in slugging - .481
* Second in OPS - .788

The Double-A Bowie Baysox may be headed for their best-ever record, as noted in this tweet by Baysox broadcaster Adam Pohl. Bowie holds one of two playoff spots in its league if the season ended today.

In the 27 seasons of @BowieBaysox baseball prior, the 1994 and 2008 teams had the best record (84-58). Those records included a winning percentage of .592.

The 2021 Baysox are 57-37 with a winning percentage of .606 which would be best winning pct. in franchise history.

-- Adam Pohl (@PohlAdam) August 24, 2021