Uplifting night for Davis and O’s
Slugger hits 2-run HR in 6-run first inning, grand slam in fourth
The Orioles finally did to the Texas Rangers what other teams have been doing to them so often over the past few weeks.
The offense erupted for six runs in the first inning and reached double digits by the fourth on the way to a 12-1 victory before an announced 18,119 and its biggest run total at Camden Yards since it scored15 against the St. Louis Cardinals on June 17.
Chris Davis did most of the damage, with a fluke two-run home run in the first and a grand slam in the fourth to set a career high with six RBIs. The grand slam was the eighth of his career.
“It was one of those nights when we just kind of fed off of each other,” Davis said. “We’ve been looking for that for a while. Obviously, you try to get out there and score as many runs as possible — as an offense that’s your job every night — but it felt good to see one through nine hitting Manager Buck Showalter plans to increase Zach Britton’s workload tonight.”
It all accrued to the benefit of starting pitcher Dylan Bundy, who gave up a quick run in the first inning, then settled in to enjoy a rare night of lavish run support. He was coming off an11-day hiatus intended to freshen him up for the stretch run and – like Chris Tillman the night before – seemed to benefit from the rest.
Bundy looked fatigued in his final two outings before the All-Star break, giving up 11 earned runs in just nine innings, but manager Buck Showalter was already planning the long midseason break before those two games.
He bounced back to give up just four hits over six innings in his 13th quality start of the season. Miguel Castro took over at that point and pitched two hitless innings. Zach Britton finished in a nonsave situation.
It took Bundy a couple of innings to settle in. He had the bases loaded in the second before working out of a jam that might have changed the complexion of the game.
“The first three innings, I just felt off,” he said. “I can’t even explain what was off, but something was. That’s how you get out of it is just going out there and staying in the game and trying to figure out things that work and make adjustments on that day.”
Davis returned from the disabled list Friday and has been in the starting lineup