BALTIMORE _ It wasn't complicated. The Orioles needed to change the subject after a discouraging weekend against the Houston Astros, and they would need good pitching and timely hitting to do that against the first-place Washington Nationals.
Rookie Dylan Bundy supplied the solid start and the O's flexed just enough muscle to open the home-and-home interleague series with a 4-3 victory over the Nationals before 31,660 at Camden Yards.
Bundy had to feel his way around for a few innings, but he allowed just two runs on three hits over six innings to improve his record to 7-4 and drop his ERA to 3.33. The game turned his way in a three-run fourth inning that featured a game-tying RBI double by Chris Davis and a two-run home run by Mark Trumbo, who extended his major league lead with his 38th homer of the season.
The Orioles haven't gotten a lot of breaks over the past week, but they appeared to get a big one Monday when the Nationals put 15-game winner Stephen Strasburg on the disabled list with a sore elbow.
Strasburg originally was scheduled to pitch Monday night, but the Nationals had to turn to rookie A.J. Cole, who was making his second major league start.
He pitched well, working seven innings and allowing five hits, but two of them were home runs and three of them came with no one out in the fourth inning, when Manny Machado and Davis doubled ahead of Trumbo's big blast.
The late innings were tense. Reliever Mychal Givens took over for Bundy in the seventh and immediately gave up a home run to Danny Espinoza to cut the Orioles' lead to a run. Left-hander Donnie Hart allowed a leadoff double in the eighth, but teamed up with Brad Brach to work out of trouble and turn the game over to closer Zach Britton.
Britton ended any suspense by making short work of the Nationals in the ninth to record his 38th save in as many opportunities.
The series resumes Tuesday night with Kevin Gausman taking the mound for the Orioles against Nationals right-hander Reynaldo Lopez.
