Without everything clicking, Orioles are playing .700 baseball

So here are a few things going on with the 2017 Baltimore Orioles.

Their opening day starter Kevin Gausman has an ERA of 7.50. Right-hander Chris Tillman has been on the disabled list all year and closer Zach Britton has been on the DL the last 10 games. All-Star third baseman Manny Machado is batting .205 and 2016 MLB homer leader Mark Trumbo is hitting .190. Trumbo has gone 13 games without an RBI and Chris Davis has one over his last 11 games. The O's rank 11th in the American League in team batting and 12th in runs scored.

All of that has not slowed this team down. Not at all. The Orioles are 14-6, playing .700 baseball, the best record in the American League. The Orioles are baseball's only team to not lose a series yet ,and they've gone 6-0-1. They are 11-2 in games decided by two runs or fewer. They are 12-5 versus AL East teams.

It has not been boring.

Last night the Orioles played their third extra-inning game, and they've won all three. This time, they had to score twice in the last of the 11th to beat Tampa Bay 5-4. After he drew a bases-loaded walk to end the game, outfielder Seth Smith was asked about the club's strong 20-game start.

"It's really just like every other club I've been on that's won a decent amount of games," Smith said. "You do everything timely and you pitch good enough and you hit good enough. If one's not doing well, the other picks it up and vice-versa. There's no secret to winning these games. You've got to pitch well, you've got to hit well, and you've got to put it together over nine innings."

Or sometimes over 11 innings.

Right-hander Dylan Bundy left with a one-run lead but wound up with a no-decision as Tampa Bay rallied for a 3-3 tie and went ahead 4-3 in the top of the 11th before the O's scored twice in the home half.

Despite his velocity being down last night, Bundy gave up just two runs over 6 1/3 innings. His ERA of 1.65 ranks tied for sixth in the AL. He has five quality starts in five outings. He is 2-0 with a 1.33 ERA in three home starts. Both left (.229) and right-handed batters (.227) are having a tough time getting hits off him. When Bundy has pitched with runners in scoring position, opponents are batting .105 (2-for-19).

His secondary pitches, on display often last night, have been strong. He can throw four pitches for strikes and knows how to use them. Click here to read his postgame comments from last night, including his take on his velocity, which was often between 88 and 90 mph.

The first-place Orioles get today off. They lead the Yankees by 1 1/2 games and play in the Big Apple on Friday night to start a three-game series and seven-game trip through New York and Boston.

A few notes from the minors Wednesday:

* Triple-A Norfolk left-hander Chris Lee recorded his first Triple-A win in Game 1 as the Tides split a doubleheader with Buffalo. Lee pitched six scoreless in the opener, a 4-0 win. Over his last three starts, he is 1-0 with a 2.02 ERA.

* Norfolk catcher Chance Sisco doubled and singled in the opener, upping his average to .325 (13-for-40) over his last 11 games.

* In Double-A Bowie's 13-2 win at Richmond, seven different Baysox drove in at least one run. Bowie had 21 hits and went 10-for-30 with runners in scoring position. Yep, they had 30 at-bats with RISP. I don't think I've ever seen that many in a single game.

* Single-A Frederick split a doubleheader at Potomac. Outfielder Austin Hays went 3-for-7 with two RBIs in the twin bill and is batting .355.

* Australian native Alexander Wells pitched a strong game for Single-A Delmarva as they split a doubleheader with Lakewood. In the Game 1 win, Wells pitched six innings, allowing two hits and one unearned run. He is 2-1 with an ERA of 1.00 for the season. He has not allowed an earned over 13 innings in his past three starts.