BALTIMORE _ Dylan Bundy made just one mistake Monday night _ a middle-cut fastball that former Oriole Steve Pearce hit into the left-field stands _ but the Orioles right-hander deserved a far better outcome than the team's 7-1 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays.
A sparse announced crowd of 7,912, the smallest in Camden Yards' 27-year history (not counting the no-fans game during the city's unrest in 2015), watched another fine performance by Bundy, who again did everything necessary to put the Orioles in position to win.
But their offense didn't do its part, stranding nine base runners and going 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position.
The momentum the Orioles built at Yankee Stadium by winning three of four games in the Bronx quickly dissipated in the cold and spitting rain at Camden Yards. The Orioles (4-7) went into the top of the ninth trailing by one run before allowing five runs in the inning, including a grand slam by Josh Donaldson off left-hander Nestor Cortes Jr.
Still, Bundy recorded his third quality start in as many outings, holding the Blue Jays (7-4) to just the two runs on four hits. He struck out a season-high 10 batters and walked two.
Bundy faced the minimum number of batters after allowing Pearce's two-run homer in the third inning. Justin Smoak, who had a leadoff single in the seventh, was the only base runner Bundy allowed on in the final 10 hitters he faced.
Bundy (0-1, 1.35 ERA) established his fastball early, but his slider was the perfect chase pitch Monday. He recorded 12 swinging strikes on his slider, and five of his strikeouts came on the pitch, all of them swinging and three of them on pitches down and out of the strike zone.
He did help himself early defensively. After putting runners on at first and third to open the second, Bundy fielded a come-backer off the bat of Russell Martin and threw to third, catching Pearce off the bag for an out. Bundy then loaded the bases by walking Kevin Pillar, but he struck out Devon Travis on a slider and induced a fly ball out from Aledmys Diaz to end the inning.
A leadoff walk to Curtis Granderson in the third came back to bite Bundy. Even though the 25-year-old struck out the next two hitters he faced, Donaldson swinging and Smoak looking, Bundy fell behind Pearce, who had the green light on a 3-0 pitch and sent it over the left-field fence.
