masn-baseballs-orioles.jpgThe Orioles got back to their series-winning ways this weekend after a loss and split in their two previous tries.
Manny Machado and Trey Mancini hit home runs, and Dylan Bundy ran his streak of quality starts to seven in a 6-5 victory over the White Sox before an announced crowd of 28,718 at Camden Yards.
Machado delivered a solo shot in the second inning off White Sox rookie Dylan Covey and Mancini launched a two-run shot in the fifth. Covey left the game with the Orioles ahead…

The Orioles got back to their series-winning ways this weekend after a loss and split in their two previous tries.

Manny Machado and Trey Mancini hit home runs, and Dylan Bundy ran his streak of quality starts to seven in a 6-5 victory over the White Sox before an announced crowd of 28,718 at Camden Yards.

Machado delivered a solo shot in the second inning off White Sox rookie Dylan Covey machado-home-run-swing-orange-side.jpgand Mancini launched a two-run shot in the fifth. Covey left the game with the Orioles ahead 6-2.

Machado’s home run was his fourth in six games and fifth in the last nine. Mancini also had an RBI double in a three-run first inning, when the Orioles sent nine batters to the plate.

Mark Trumbo had an RBI after Covey committed a balk with the bases loaded. Trumbo has three consecutive two-hit games and four in his last six games.

Mychal Givens surrendered two-run homer to José Abreu in the eighth inning, the ball slamming off the left field foul pole, but Darren O’Day notched his second save and the Orioles improved to 7-1 in one-run games.

Bundy retired 10 of the first 11 batters. He allowed three runs and six hits in six innings, with one walk, three strikeouts and a home run.

Manager Buck Showalter removed Bundy after 105 pitches, including 68 strikes.

In eight career games against the American League Central, Bundy has allowed six earned runs in 24 innings. In three starts, he’s surrendered five earned runs in 17 innings.

Bundy began tonight as one of four pitchers in the majors with six or more starts that have all rated as quality outings, joining Detroit’s Michael Fulmer, Minnesota’s Ervin Santana and Boston’s Chris Sale.

Cody Asche hit his first home run of the season, a solo shot with two outs in the sixth inning to reduce the lead to 6-3. Donnie Hart began to warm, but Tim Anderson flied out and Bundy was back in the dugout.

Hart retired the side in order in the seventh inning.

The start of the game was delayed 43 minutes by rain.

The Orioles (19-10) will go for the sweep on Sunday after losing two of three to the Yankees in the Bronx and splitting their four-game series in Boston. They remain a half-game behind New York in the AL East.

Down on the farm, Edwin Jackson will join Triple-A Norfolk on Sunday and make the start against Durham.

Here’s a sampling from Showalter:

On Bundy’s quality starts: “He’s in a good place. He’s pitching, he’s pitching. He’s got a purpose to everything he’s doing. Give a catcher with good imagination like our guys do, you can give yourself to have some success. He’s been good. Fun to watch.”

On whether he’s less cautious with Bundy: “Very quietly, we’ve been real careful with him this year. In the spring, what have you, and I think you’ll see some stuff as we go forward, but talked to him early on about our schedule in April and the type of things we were going to do with the off-days. He’ll be picking up some days as we go forward. We’ve had a plan through the first start after the All-Star break for all our guys, but especially Dylan.”

On whether there’s one facet of Bundy’s game that most impressive: “I’ve always been impressed with him. Dylan’s a guy with a lot of common sense and he doesn’t take himself nearly as seriously. I think the respect he has for what you have to do to be consistently successful here … He knows how quickly it can go. I don’t think he gets too wound up in the real good and the real bad. He can turn the page on something good and turn the page on something bad.

“For a guy that came out with all the hoopla surrounding him, I think maybe in the long run some of the best things that happened are some of the challenges he’s gone through that’s made him kind of developed into a more complete pitcher.”

On whether Bundy’s velocity is where it needs to be: “I hope so. There are a lot of bridges to cross. He can still go get it when he needs it, but more is not always better. He throws a lot of different looks at a hitter. There was one pitch tonight I didn’t think he had a feel for, so he went to another one a little bit more. He’s going to two-seam the ball and the four-seam when he has to. He got a couple big outs with the changeup tonight on 3-2 counts.”

On wins at home: “We’ve got three more games at home and then back out again. We know at the end of the year it’s going to be 81-81. The weather has been a challenge for us. It’s May and I think everyone’s tired of the wind and the rain and the cold. But we were really impressed with the support we had tonight.”

On whether it felt like a normal game: “The job Darren did, you see left-handers hitting .100 off him. That’s hard to do with the presentation he has. He’s worked hard at that since we first got him. Wish we could have done a better job in the eighth inning. That would have made it a little easier. But the tack-on runs were big.

“It seems like the guys have found a way to dial up our needs. It’s going to be a challenge. Sometimes, you have those years when you don’t get all your bullets back, so you try to develop some different ammunition.”

On mixing and matching closers with Zach Britton on the DL: “I’m not going to put these guys in harm’s way physically. I was not going to use Brad (Brach) today in any form or fashion. I may not use him tomorrow with the quick turnaround. But you see a game you have a chance to win, you go for it as long as you’re not putting somebody in a physically distressful way. We’ll take a look at it and each day see what’s available and put our best foot forward.”