DETROIT -- Dylan Bundy entered Thursday as one of just two starters in the American League to throw quality starts in all of his outings this season.
But Tigers designated hitter Victor Martinez's two-run fifth-inning homer snapped that streak, as Bundy -- the O's best starter -- was tagged for a season-high six earned runs in Thursday's 6-5 series loss.
"I wasn't commanding the ball very well, and they made me pay for it," said Bundy, who walked four and surrendered a season-high eight hits. "Three pitches I left up in the zone, and they were able to hit two up in the zone, and that cost me a lot today."
Bundy, who took his first loss since April 11 (and just second of the year) leads the Orioles in innings pitched and wins. And while the 24-year-old righty was still able to get through six frames, twice he saw a lead squandered. First, J.D. Martinez's three-run homer tied the game in the third, and then Victor Martinez's blast gave Detroit a one-run lead.
"I think the three-run homer, we've got a guy who's putting a good swing on just about anything thrown, and [we] got burned by that. [Bundy] was pitching pretty well up to that point," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. "Got a lot of borderline pitches didn't go his way, turned some counts around. But he's been real good for us. The first month of the season, pitching kind of offset some of the challenges we had offensively. And now we seem to be finding our step a little bit there, and pitching's been a little less on this trip."
Working with an extra day of rest, Bundy threw 61 of his 97 pitches for strikes, and he chided himself for not being able to come through with the shutdown tinning.
"The hard part is when our team got the lead, it seemed like I gave it up every inning after we got the lead," Bundy said. "That can't happen, and I got to do a better job."