Showalter on Jones, Bundy, bullpen and 3-2 11-inning win

Adam Jones saw one pitch today from Twins reliever Fernando Rodney leading off the bottom of the 11th inning. That's all he needed.

Jones demolished a 92 mph fastball, sending it into the left field seats to give the Orioles a 3-2 win on opening day and the center fielder his first walk-off hit since a single against the Mariners in 2012.

This is the third career walk-off home run for Jones, who's batting .341 with six doubles, one triple, two home runs, eight RBIs and seven runs scored in 11 openers.

It could be his last with the Orioles as free agency looms.

"I think we all know what Adam ... One of the biggest things that Adam's brought here is he posts up," said manager Buck Showalter. "It's important for him to be there and you look at the games played and you look at the commitment that we both made to each other.

"Adam, he's just been a guy. One of the first guys I spent some time with when I got here was Adam. So obviously I've got a little special affinity for the things he brings. I understand him and the rough edges we all have, but he's very consistent. Especially with his baseball. You know what you're getting every night. That's a lot of games to not ever walk up the runway and not feel like he wasn't ready to play."

The Orioles, who squandered a 2-0 lead in the ninth, are 8-0 on opening day under Showalter. They've won 15 of their last 18 and have three straight walk-offs, including Matt Wieters' single in 2016 and Mark Trumbo's home run in 2017.

Asked about the relevance of his record in openers with the Orioles, Showalter replied, "I think my daughter knows. She called me after the game. It's the first opening day she's ever missed.

"You've got to win, what, 99 more? Every year I've been here except for one, 90 got you in the playoffs. Our guys want to win the division. They want to try, obviously, to get a toehold, there's 161 more."

Dylan Bundy posted a 7.20 ERA and 1.65 WHIP in spring training and opponents batted .326 against him. It meant so much, he tossed seven scoreless innings today on five hits, one walk and seven strikeouts.

Don't become consumed with Florida numbers. Showalter couldn't recite them.

"I don't even know. What were his stats? He got better every outing stuff-wise," Showalter said.

"I'll tell you, two really good pitchers on top of their game. You can see why they've been so successful. Now they add (Jake) Odorizzi in there. It's one of those things where both clubs know what the pitcher is going to do and they still do it. Just got a lot of ways to get you out. But we pitched just a little bit better than they did."

Odorizzi held the Orioles to two hits in six scoreless innings, striking out seven, but Caleb Joseph's two-run triple in the seventh off Zach Duke broke the tie. Joseph has three career triples.

"The thing that's tough about games like this is we all kind of dwell, and rightfully so, on the way it ended," Showalter said. "We obviously didn't do a whole lot offensively against some very good pitchers. In that twilight after the sixth or seventh, it's really hard to hit, so Caleb's base hit there really gave us a good chance."

Craig Gentry was outstanding in right field, including his leaping catch to rob Eddie Rosario in the second. Darren O'Day retired the side in order in the eighth, Mychal Givens retired all four batters he faced and Richard Bleier stranded a runner on third base in the 11th to earn the win.

Brad Brach couldn't hold the 2-0 lead in the ninth, walking two batters and being victimized by an infield hit on a chopper that Chris Davis apparently lost in the lights and Robbie Grossman's two-run bloop single into center field.

"You forget about the two catches that Gentry made in right field," Showalter said. "Most right fielders don't make either one of those. Really, three of them. That's a lot of fingers to put down correctly and Darren had a great inning. Brad probably deserved to get out of that inning with the save, too, but that's what you like about him. He's so tough mentally, he'll be ready to go the next time."

Brach threw 34 pitches while retiring two batters. Max Kepler worked him for 11 before walking, and Grossman followed with his single.

"Borderline pitch could have gone either way 3-2," Showalter said. "Gives up a, I'll call it a flare today that broke the guy's bat and he dumped it into center field after we get a ball in the sun we can't see. That's why you don't play the game on paper and completely analytically, because things like that you can't evaluate. So many things that happen in innings like that.

"Dylan was the key to the game. Dylan was outstanding. He had been at six, so that was his first time with seven ups, so he maintained his stuff through the outing. That's a tough lineup to go through for a right-handed pitcher."

The Orioles loaded the bases in the bottom of the 10th against Trevor Hildenberger and Rodney, but the Twins went with a five-man infield and Jonathan Schoop bounced into a 6-2-3 double play. Colby Rasmus led off with a walk in his Orioles debut.

Jones led off the bottom of the 11th by making a loud noise with his bat and drawing a louder one from what remained of a sellout crowd.

"Doesn't matter how it comes, as long as you win the game at the end of the day," he said. "It was a beautiful game. Obviously, we wanted to win it in nine, but I can't see that complaint about a win, no matter how late you have to go and get it.

"I knew it was gone off the bat. It's very, a lot going on, I should say. Little boys here to watch me, my whole family here to support me, so it's important and a big opening day. I'm glad we got the win and it was cool that I was able to get the big hit, but I'm just glad we got the win."

It's become typical for the Orioles on opening day.