masn-baseballs-orioles.jpgBOWIE, Md. – After his first start at Double-A Bowie, right-hander Dylan Bundy was generally pleased with his outing. But in answering the first question about his night, Bundy noted the one area on the stat sheet that he wasn’t pleased with.

“Three walks,” Bundy said. “You know I’m disappointed about that, I always am. Other than that, they weren’t squaring too many balls up. I think they had two or three doubles, but I made quality pitches pretty much when I needed to with guys on…BOWIE, Md. – After his first start at Double-A Bowie, right-hander Dylan Bundy was generally pleased with his outing. But in answering the first question about his night, Bundy noted the one area on the stat sheet that he wasn’t pleased with.

“Three walks,” Bundy said. “You know I’m disappointed about that, I always am. Other than that, they weren’t squaring too many balls up. I think they had two or three doubles, but I made quality pitches pretty much when I needed to with guys on base. Off-speed stuff was on and off all night. It wasn’t great, but it was there. So I’m happy about that.”

Bundy got the win in Game 1 of a doubleheader as the Baysox beat Erie 5-3. Over 5 1/3 innings, he gave up five hits and three runs (two earned) with three walks and three strikeouts. He threw 96 pitches, 56 for strikes.

The three walks did tie for the most he’s issued in a game this year. The crowd seemed to groan at some of the home plate umpire’s ball and strike calls and some close pitches didn’t go his way.

“I’m not going to say (I disagreed with) the calls because it aint in my control. I could’ve thrown it an inch closer to the plate. But, yeah, I mean every pitcher has a little bit of inconsistency sometimes throughout the game and I had a little bit too much of that tonight.”

With this kid you expect so much that when he loses his command for a short time, as he did in the fourth and fifth tonight, it stands out.

“It just looked like his timing got off a little bit on his landing,” Bowie pitching coach Kennie Steenstra said of a stretch where he walked three of six hitters. “He was just dragging a little bit. But he corrected it himself, I didn’t have to remind him of anything.”

Overall, Steenstra was impressed at what Bundy did in his first start at this level.

“He pitched well tonight. They’ve got a good hitting lineup. I was really impressed with the amount of strikes he threw. He did a nice job of minimizing damage in the inning we made an error behind him and kept his composure well,” he said.

Bundy was asked about the Orioles’ decision to not allow him to throw his cut fastball, a policy that remains in effect for his Bowie starts.

“Oh, yeah, my best pitch. But it’s what the organization is asking of me, and I’m really trying to work on those off-speed pitches to get it back,” he said.

The media speculation continues that Bundy could be a September call-up by the Orioles. Has anyone in the organization mentioned the possibility to him?

“No, not at all. That’s not any of my concern, either. It’s all about pitching here and getting developed more with all of my pitches, and like I said command. I’m not worried about September at all, I’m worried about August,” he said.

Bundy is expected to remain pitching every sixth day here with Bowie and his next start is set for Monday at Richmond.