O’s young pitcher stymies Jays

BALTIMORE — With a year of experience behind him and an additional pitch in his repertoire, Dylan Bundy appears poised to make the next step in his progression to big league ace.

Bundy struck out eight over seven impressive innings, and the Baltimore Orioles used home runs by Adam Jones and Chris Davis to beat the Toronto Blue Jays 3-1 Wednesday night.

Making his 15th career start, Bundy (1-0) allowed one run and four hits. The 2011 first-round draft pick did not issue a walk and retired 14 of the last 15 batters he faced.

Bundy went 10-6 last year, his first full season in the big leagues. The 24-year-old is being counted on this season to build on that performance, and the right-hander certainly did not disappoint in his 2017 debut.

Because Bundy was coming off elbow and shoulder injuries, the Orioles had him put his slider on the shelf last year. It’s back in play now and was a huge factor against the Blue Jays.

“The slider was a good pitch for me tonight,” Bundy said. “There were more right-handers in the lineup tonight, so I was using that a little bit more. I was happy with it.”

Orioles manager Buck Showalter said, “When you give them three different looks and they have to honour three different pitches — really four tonight — you like your chances.”

Brad Brach pitched the eighth and Zach Britton got three outs to earn his first save and seal the two-game sweep. After Toronto loaded the bases with one out in the ninth, Britton got former Oriole Steve Pearce to bounce into a 6-4-3 double play.

Jones hit a two-run drive in the third inning and Davis added a solo shot in the fourth. Both homers were off J.A. Happ, who went 20-4 last year — including 2-0 against the Orioles.

“The home run to Jones, I felt like I made my pitch. He kind of got his hands in there,” Happ said. “And then, just trying to be aggressive, Davis got me on the first pitch.”

Happ (0-1) struck out nine in seven innings. The left-hander gave up five hits and walked none.

“Overall, I was throwing a lot of strikes,” Happ said. “That’s a good sign.”

Bundy retired the first seven batters before Toronto used three straight singles — the last by Devon Travis — to take a 1-0 lead in the third.