Orioles hang on for 4-3 win over Nationals (with Showalter quotes)

Dylan Bundy didn't light up the radar gun tonight and set off sparks. It wasn't about velocity as much as location, and the Orioles found a win.

Bundy held the Nationals to two runs over six innings, making the right pitches at the right times to avoid serious harm, and the Orioles turned on the power in a 4-3 victory before 31,660 at Camden Yards.

Zach Britton struck out two batters and registered his 38th save to remain perfect on the season.

Boy, did they need this one after losing five of their first six games on the homestand.

The Orioles improved to 68-56 and moved within two games of first place. The Blue Jays are idle tonight. Bundy stayed busy.

Bundy threw a career-high 94 pitches and allowed three hits, walked four, struck out four and hit a batter. A vast improvement over his last start against the Red Sox, when he surrendered five runs and nine hits in 4 1/3 innings.

We're not talking pinpoint control here, but he retired nine of the last 10 batters he faced without allowing a hit.

Mark Trumbo broke a 2-2 tie in the bottom of the fourth inning with his 38th home run, a two-run shot off A.J. Cole that followed back-to-back doubles by Manny Machado and Chris Davis.

Trumbo's last seven hits have been home runs.

Bundy allowed a run in the first inning for only the second time, with Trea Turner drawing a leadoff walk on eight pitches, stealing second and scoring with one out on Daniel Murphy's single into center field.

Bundy survived Ryan Zimmerman's leadoff double in the second inning and two walks in the third, but Anthony Rendon homered to left-center field leading off the fourth to break a 1-1 tie. That was the Nationals' last hit until Danny Espinosa's leadoff home run in the seventh off Mychal Givens.

Espinosa hadn't homered since July 3.

Givens retired the next three batters, striking out two. Donnie Hart surrendered a leadoff double to Murphy in the eighth, but he fielded a comebacker from Bryce Harper and boldly fired to second base to get Murphy, who couldn't get back.

Left-handers are 2-for-17 against Hart.

Brach retired Wilson Ramos on a ground ball to short, walked Rendon, threw a wild pitch and struck out Ryan Zimmerman on seven pitches.

The leadoff batter reached in each of the first four innings against Bundy, twice on walks. Never a good idea. But he improved to 7-4 with a 3.33 ERA.

Jonathan Schoop led off the bottom of the third inning with his 20th home run to briefly tie the game and give the Orioles five players with at least 20, including Trumbo, Davis, Machado and Adam Jones. Pedro Alvarez is on deck with 19.

Down on the farm, T.J. McFarland pitched two innings with Double-A Bowie and allowed three runs and six hits in Trenton. He walked none, struck out two and surrendered a home run. He threw 46 pitches, 34 for strikes in his third rehab start.

Here's a sampling from manager Buck Showalter:

On Bundy:

"Good. Thought he got a little better as it went along. Mistakes he made, they got on, but ... I'm trying real hard not to say he made some good pitches when he had to, but he pitched well. That's about where we wanted to take him tonight. A lot of times, he and Tilly (Chris Tillman) both, they seem to have their best innings the last one. Hopefully, down the road he can continue to pitch."

On whether he feels vindicated now for how he used Bundy earlier:

"No, not vindicated. Why? It's just a tribute to Dylan and the people who have worked with him. And most of all, Dylan. Good pitchers are easy to handle. Just get out of their way. But it's very easy to let emotions get away from you. There are times to think with your heart as much as your head. It was tempting to run him back out there for the seventh inning, but trying to keep the end game here in mind."

On whether Bundy knew the sixth was his last inning:

"I'm not telling him. No. What's he going to do, go out there and overthrow and empty the tank? There are certain guys, you kind of get to know guys that you may say that to, but I think he knows that we will always have his best interests at heart."

On Bundy's velocity:

"I don't think it is down that much. I know he's throwing a lot more two-seamers. That must be what you're seeing. He's got more than just a four-seam fastball. I think he had some 95s, 96s. I don't look at the gun much with him. I watch the other team. I know his last outing he didn't have command with the fastball, with the four-seamer. He competed with the two-seamer last time and that's some growth by him, that more's not always better.

"He gave up a couple this on changeups, but didn't abandon it. He got some big outs later on and sometimes a guy will give up some hits on a pitch and the other team can take it out of the memory bank. Dylan, I think he trusts Matt (Wieters) a lot and he knows it's more location than pitch selection. Every pitch is the right pitch if you throw it where you're supposed to."

On Hart's throw to second base:

"Donnie ain't scared, and that's one of things we like. He's athletic and he's throwing it over, and those two things play. (Daniel) Murphy's probably having as good an offensive year all-around as anybody in baseball, but he made a big play back to him. We were trying to piece together the outs there."

On Britton:

"What Zach has been doing all year, that's hard. That's a tough club over there to go through and win a one-run game against, but Zach was going to pitch regardless. Actually, there was a possibility where, if the situation arose, he was going to pitch an out in the eighth. Brad (Brach) had a good out, too, against a good hitter."

On playing crisp, quick game:

"I don't care too much about seeing fundamentally sound quick games and we lose. No, you're exactly right. It looks that way when you don't pitch well. It looks a little flat or you're at the ballpark for 15 hours yesterday it seemed like, but it's a good club. Houston's battling. We're playing a lot of good clubs now that are fighting you tooth and nail, trying to get a chance for October baseball. It's just a reminder that we can play that kind of baseball.

"We've been playing it for most of the year. If we can just stay engaged in it and not get in that other side of snowballing. You can be just so strong mentally. That's what great about the sun going down and the sun going up. An opportunity starts the next day."

On the atmosphere:

"It was an energy that was needed. You always lean on your fans sometime when you come off a long tough trip in August. It's a pick-me-up. We're having to make a lot of adjustments with batting practice and work schedules trying to keep our legs under us. That's why atmosphere like this is nice."