Baltimore Orioles, Bundy and the Bull

Aug 2, 2016; Baltimore, MD, USA; Baltimore Orioles designated hitter Pedro Alvarez (24) celebrates after hitting a solo home run in the seventh inning against the Texas Rangers at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Baltimore Orioles defeated Texas Rangers 4-1. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports /

The Baltimore Orioles got stellar performances from Dylan Bundy and Pedro Alvarez to defeat Yu Darvish and the Texas Rangers on Tuesday evening, 5-1.

The win enabled the Orioles to hang on to first place in the American League East by a single game over the Jays and Red Sox, each winners as well. (Correction: That was written before the Boston / Seattle game was quite finished, and the Mariners scored five runs in the 8^th inning to win, including a three-run homer by Cano off of David Price … priceless!)

The theme that the O’s are enjoying right now is the dominant pitching of Bundy. This is the pitcher advertised at the beginning after he was taken as the fourth overall pick in the 2011 draft. And this is the guy who came upon the scene that year with overpowering stuff, pitching 33 innings before yielding his first professional run.

Now on the other side of Tommy John surgery, Bundy looks to be arriving with everything working once again, and this time doing it on the big stage. On Tuesday he gave up only one hit and one walk in seven innings. Everything was working for him – all three pitches with command of each. That is the goal of every pitcher, though few have it come together quite as nicely as has Bundy over his past two outings.

Throwing 88 pitches with 60 as strikes, he was pounding the strike zone. As well, Bundy threw over one-third of his pitches as off-speed curves and changes, mixed with a high-velocity, moving fastball. There percentages are a winner for Dylan. And when he has it all working, it is a delight to watch.

All the support he needed offensively came from El Toro, Pedro Alvarez. Going through the (Adam Jones) matador’s towel in the dugout after a home run is becoming a favorite sight for Orioles fans. It happened twice on Tuesday evening, along with homers by Jones and Matt Wieters – four solo shots.

Alvarez has now tallied 15 long balls this season, the majority of them coming in more recent times. El Toro has been one of the few Orioles hitters who have been hot of late. Since June 1^st he has hit 12 home runs and batted .296, well above his career average of .237. This pace cannot probably be sustained, but the Orioles might as well ride it as long as it will last.