BALTIMORE — Dylan Bundy has been outstanding this season, allowing five earned runs in five starts while striking out 40 in just over 31 innings.
And now, the Baltimore Orioles right-hander has a victory to show for it.
Bundy pitched six innings of five-hit ball and struck out nine to help Baltimore beat the Cleveland Indians 3-1 Friday night and end a six-game losing streak.
Manny Machado homered and Trey Mancini doubled in two runs for the Orioles, who were outscored 43-22 during an 0-6 trip through Boston and Detroit.
After being victimized by a lack of run support in his first four outings, Bundy (1-2) got enough offensive backing to earn his first win since Aug. 29.
“We finally got him a win,” Machado said. “He’s a horse. He’s been throwing strikes, pounding the zone and getting outs. We just haven’t been scoring runs for him.”
Richard Bleier worked two innings — aided by a fine defensive play by Machado at shortstop — and Darren O’Day got three outs for his first save.
Cleveland starter Trevor Bauer (1-2) allowed three runs and five hits in seven innings. He retired 10 of the first 11 batters he faced before Machado sent a 3-0 pitch over the center-field wall.
Mancini put the Orioles in front in the fifth with a liner to the gap in left-center after Bauer hit a batter and gave up a single.
“I really struggled putting guys away tonight,” Bauer lamented. “My slider was terrible, and when I can’t put guys away with that, they know I’m going to throw curveballs. So when I throw bad ones like that (to Mancini), I get away with them less.”
The night started badly for Bundy, thanks in part to a defensive miscue. After Orioles catcher Chance Sisco misjudged a foul pop that landed near the Baltimore dugout, Jason Kipnis used the second chance to hit a single in the first.
The Indians loaded the bases before Bundy hit Edwin Encarnacion with a pitch to force in a run. Bundy then got two straight outs to keep a bad situation from getting worse.
“Just trying to limit the damage there,” he said. “Could have put us in a hole there.”
In the second, Cleveland’s Tyler Naquin hit a popup that landed in fair territory about 20 feet up the third-base line. Fortunately for the Orioles, third baseman Tim Beckham grabbed it after it bounced foul.
But Baltimore played solid defense when it counted. With two on and two outs in the seventh, Machado made a dive deep in the hole to grab a grounder by Jose Ramirez, then used a backhand toss to get the force at second base.
Michael Brantley had two hits for the Indians, his career-high tying fifth straight multihit game. But Cleveland didn’t do much else, mostly because Bundy was so sharp.
“Very good changeup. I mean, really good,” Indians manager Terry Francona said. “We weren’t able to make the adjustment. Once he got a feel for that, it really made his fastball and breaking ball that much better.”
Tigers, Royals split
DETROIT — Detroit rookie first baseman Niko Goodrum dropped Jon Jay’s grounder and then made a wild throw, allowing the tiebreaking run to score in the ninth inning as the Kansas City Royals snapped a nine-game losing streak, rallying past the Tigers 3-2 in the second game of a split doubleheader.
Detroit won the afternoon opener 3-2 on a 10th-inning solo homer by JaCoby Jones.
The Tigers led 2-1 in the ninth of the nightcap before pinch hitter Abraham Almonte lined a tying single with one out. With runners at first and second, Jay hit a grounder to Goodrum, who didn’t handle it cleanly. Goodrum then he compounded his problems by flipping the ball over the head of pitcher Shane Greene (1-1), who was covering the bag.
Kelvin Herrera pitched the ninth for his third save, ended Detroit’s four-game winning streak.
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