Quick takes on Dylan Bundy, Kevin Gausman and the offense

A few quick thoughts on the Orioles as they leave St. Petersburg, Florida after taking two of three and head for Yankee Stadium. The Orioles and Yankees play a four-game series starting tonight.

Does Bundy continue to start?: I see no reason for the Orioles to do anything but give Dylan Bundy the ball every fifth day for now. At some point they are going to have to determine whether he stays in the rotation or that they have to handle his innings in another way to get him through the season. It would be a plus to make sure Bundy can pitch for the team through the playoffs, should the Orioles make it that far. Shutting him down late in year due to an innings limit seems like a bad idea. They have to make it work without piling too many innings on that 23-year-old arm.

There was so much hype and anticipation for yesterday's start and that had to make it a little tougher on Bundy. He is a pretty cool customer most nights, but it is good for him to get the first one behind him.

Perhaps there was an overreliance on his fastball yesterday. Even with one as good as his, eventually major league hitters will catch up to it. He said afterward that his command was off and that was apparent. He also was pitching on 10 day's rest. We should keep that in mind.

For now, just keep giving him the ball and let him build up his arm strength and gain experience and work to help the team's rotation get better.

Go time for Gausman: While Bundy has made just one big league start with only 43 career innings under his belt, Orioles right-hander Kevin Gausman has made 57 career starts pitching 360 innings.

The Orioles are waiting for Gausman to take his game to a higher level and now would be a good time. The 25-year-old O's top pick from the 2012 draft is clearly capable.

But he gave up seven runs in 11 innings over his last two starts before the All-Star Game. Over his past five starts, Gausman's ERA is 5.74. He is winless on the road this year, going 0-5 with a 5.25 ERA.

The Orioles are 6-9 in Gausman's 15 starts this year and 25-32 in his career starts. He and the club have to figure out a way to improve that stat. He has given up too many homers and also some big hits when ahead on the count this year. Like Bundy, Gausman has plenty of zip on his fastball, but he can't always throw that by major league hitters. If Gausman takes a step forward in the second half, it could provide a boost this rotation sorely needs.

The offense recently: The Orioles went 19-9 in June and they had a team batting average that month of .300, a slugging mark of .531 and OPS of .888. The Orioles averaged an impressive 6.6 runs per game during June.

With a mark of 6-6 in July, the O's are batting .259, slugging .418 and with an OPS of .730. They are scoring 3.9 runs per game this month.

Over the past five games, the Orioles scored just 15 runs. They scored just eight runs in three games at Tampa Bay and went 1-for-16 with runners in scoring position in the series. The O's are batting just .109 (7-for-64) with RISP the past eight games.

Should there be concern about the offense? Probably not. Several players are still swinging it well and homers can come at any time and in abundance for this group