Showalter on Bundy, Britton and a 3-1 win

The Orioles held the Blue Jays to three runs in 20 innings, the result a sweep of the two-game series before their second off-day this week.

Dylan Bundy was magnificent with one run allowed, no walks and eight strikeouts in seven innings. The seven innings and 99 pitches tied his career highs.

This was only the second time as a starter that Bundy didn't walk a batter. It also happened on July 22, 2016 in five innings against the Indians.

Brad Brach struck out two batters in a scoreless eighth and Zach Britton escaped a bases-loaded jam to convert his 50th consecutive save opportunity, inducing a double play grounder from former teammate Steve Pearce.

zach-britton-pitch-white.jpgBritton, who threw 24 pitches while allowing two singles and walking a batter, still hasn't blown a save since Sept. 20, 2015 at Tropicana Field.

The 50 converted saves in a row represent the fifth-longest streak since the stat became official in 1969, according to STATS. It's the longest active streak in the majors.

Adam Jones tied Rafael Palmeiro for the fifth-most home runs in Orioles history with 223. Brooks Robinson is fourth with 268.

Here's a sampling from manager Buck Showalter:

On holding the Jays to three runs in 20 innings: "Yeah, that's really hard. You're glad to see them leave town because someone's going to pay. Our guys did a great job against them the last two nights. We needed it because (J.A.) Happ's really good. We know in the division how good he is and how strong their starting pitching is. There's such a small margin of error there.

"Adam had a big hit. That's some pretty select company he's getting into in Orioles home runs if you look at the four guys ahead of him. That's sacred ground."

On Bundy's secondary pitches being a factor: "They haven't seen much of him. You look through the matchups, there wasn't much there. There was a little bit of potential for ambush factor early in the game, but he kept them as much as he could off balance and they had to honor all his pitches. You talk a lot about command of one to compete, two to win and three to, I don't want to say dominate. But when you give them three different looks and they have to honor three different pitches - really four tonight - you like your chances."

On letting Bundy come back out for the seventh: "I considered taking him out after the sixth. We wouldn't let him face the go-ahead run. Just see how he felt. Pretty stressful last out. That was a pretty impressive at-bat with him and (Kendrys) Morales and he won it. A lot of times guys finish their tank up there. So, we were going hitter to hitter with him next inning."

On what's different about Bundy now compared to last season: "This was Dylan for his first seven or eight starts for us. When we brought him in after the All-Star break, it wasn't a whole lot different what you saw tonight. He's featuring a little different look, a little different shape on some pitches that he didn't last year. Another example of being able to take some of the governors off him.

"I thought Welington (Castillo) showed a really good imagination the last two (games). You've got a pitcher who allows you to do that, and he had a lot of fingers at his disposal tonight to put down. That's why you saw a good tempo and not much shake off. I thought Welington the last two (games) has been really good. That's been impressive catching a lot of guys. He spent a lot of time with these guys in the spring, a lot of it on his part, and I think he really got their respect by how much he went out of the way to get a feel for them."

On Bundy from spring training to tonight: "Very similar. If you throw away what was going on on the field as far as results. I watched his work days, I watched his face, his body language, he's feeling good about himself. His arm, shoulder, his body felt good. There was no reason to think anything else. If you're going to base everything on results down there and statistics, you're going to make a lot of mistakes."

On having an extra pitch, the cutter/slider, that could aid him later in games: "It's not going to be any secret. It's there for him. We'll see how he feels as the season goes on, how it affects him at all physically. So far so good. He used it in the spring and his work days went well after. He's going to get an extra day next time out, I'd be curious to see how he feels on his work day, if there's any residual from it. It's something that certainly puts his repertoire at a real challenge for hitters when he's able to carry all those pitches."

On the 10-pitch battle with Morales in the sixth: "It reaffirms what we already thought. It's not something all of sudden there's a moment. He knows what that means. Those battles, if you win them, is even more of a confidence builder. Dylan wants to win the end of the battle. Being competitive isn't good enough for him. And that's the way all our guys feel. We have a lot of guys who want to win the battle, not compete well through the battle."

On Britton's two extended outings: "I love the fact that he found a way to get it done. It's hard. The ninth inning's hard. You're facing one of the best parts of the lineup anywhere in the American League. It's hard. He gives up a sharp-hit ball to left field and a ground ball found a hole. A walk. Got a big strikeout on (Troy) Tulowitzki and he's always a pitch from getting two outs.

"It's not always as easy as it may seem. It's a different inning, it's a different inning, and not just anybody can pitch it."




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