BOSTON _ As Dylan Bundy's pitch counts have escalated, so too have his walk totals, which has made for some unsteady sailing for the Orioles rookie right-hander over the past month.
But in a game the Orioles needed to win to remain afloat in the division race, Bundy battled through early command issues to keep baseball's best batting order at bay in a 6-3 win over the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park.
With the win, the Orioles (79-65) pick up ground on both teams ahead of them in the AL East standings, moving into a tie for second with the Toronto Blue Jays and two games back of the division-leading Red Sox with 18 games left in the regular season. The Orioles also took a two-game lead over the Detroit Tigers for the second AL wild-card spot.
The Orioles offense staked Bundy to a big early lead with a five-run second inning against Red Sox left-hander Drew Pomeranz. The big blow of the inning was shortstop J.J. Hardy's three-run homer over the Green Monster on a full-count fastball over the outer half of the plate. Hardy reached base three times, adding two walks, and is hitting .306 (11-for-36) in 11 September games.
With three homers, the Orioles increased their major league-leading home run total to 231. Nolan Reimold followed Hardy with a two-run blast in the second and Jonathan Schoop, who had three hits, opened the ninth with a solo homer over the Green Monster that provided added cushion.
Bundy labored through a 33-pitch second inning, uncharacteristically issuing a pair of one-out, bases loaded walks to No. 9 hitter Ryan Hanigan and leadoff man Dustin Pedroia. He was able to avoid further damage by striking out Xander Bogaerts and inducing an inning-ending groundout from David Ortiz.
The 23-year-old then seemed to find his groove, despite a high pitch count. Over one stretch, he retired eight of nine batters before allowing a leadoff homer to Bogaerts to open the fifth. Bundy (9-5) left a man on and exited the game two outs shy of a quality start. Reliever Tommy Hunter came in and induced an inning-ending double-play ball from Hanigan.
Bundy issued four walks, and has walked 17 batters over his last five starts (he walked just six over his first five starts).
The Orioles stranded eight baserunners, including three in the eighth when Adam Jones struck out with the bases loaded. Jones was 0-for-5 with three strikeouts.
