Dan Connolly

Years in the making, Bundy and Gausman win back-to-back starts

This is what you’ve been waiting for.

This is what Orioles manager Buck Showalter and executive vice president Dan Duquette and the organization’s draft and player development staffs have been waiting for.

Through all the injuries and promotions and demotions, it finally happened Friday and Saturday.

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Dylan Bundy, the fourth overall pick in the 2011 draft, and Kevin Gausman, the fourth overall pick in the 2012 draft, won back-to-back starts for the Orioles for the first time. They did it against a Cleveland Indians team that entered Camden Yards on Friday with the best record in the AL.

Don’t think that accomplishment is lost on Gausman and Bundy.

“Yeah, we talked about this when we were playing in Bowie for a short time together,” Gausman said Saturday after he threw seven scoreless innings for the victory. “You know, it’s kind of been a long trek for him. He’s had some things that happen that are kind of out of his control, but obviously we’re happy with where he is right now.”

Bundy lost most of the past three seasons due to injury, including elbow surgery in 2013. The 23-year-old made his first big league start last week and picked up his first win as a starter Friday when he allowed one unearned run in five innings.

That’s 12 combined innings without giving up an earned run against a tough Indians offense. Twelve excellent innings for a duo that has been considered the club’s rotation future for some time now.

“That’s a very good team that we are playing. I think they have the most runs scored in the American League,” Gausman, 25, said. “It’s a good offense and I think me and Bundy both pitched well the last few days and, really, everybody has pitched well.”

The truth is this rotation is the Orioles’ biggest weakness. It’s what could stop them from making the postseason. We all know that. It’s why the Orioles have been associated with every potentially available starting pitcher this month, and why that will continue through the non-waiver trade deadline Aug. 1.

It’s why guys like San Diego’s Andrew Cashner, who has been dreadful away from pitcher-friendly Petco Park this season, is on the Orioles’ radar.

The current members of the rotation hear this stuff. They take it personally, to an extent. They want to show that they can do their part. Gausman admitted Saturday that he looks at those rumors as a challenge.

“Yeah, absolutely. I think me and Bundy, we both want to pitch well and I think we have the moving parts here to have a great starting staff,” he said. “Obviously, if we acquire somebody it’s not like we’re going to be mad, but I think we are all capable of doing it. It’s just if we can all kind of piece it together.”

Regardless of what Bundy and Gausman do, the Orioles need to acquire at least one starting pitcher. Two would be ideal. But it’s also nice to know that Bundy and Gausman, after several years of waiting and hoping, are pitching back-to-back.

And, based on this weekend anyway, getting results.

Dan Connolly

Dan Connolly has spent more than two decades as a print journalist in Pennsylvania and Maryland. The Baltimore native and Calvert Hall graduate first covered the Orioles as a beat writer for the York (Pennsylvania) Daily Record in 2001 before becoming The Baltimore Sun’s national baseball writer/Orioles reporter in 2005. He has won multiple state and national writing awards, including several from the Associated Press Sports Editors. In 2013 he was named Maryland Co-Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association. And in 2015, he authored his first book, "100 Things Orioles Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die." He lives in York, with his wife, Karen, and three children, Alex, Annie, and Grace.

View Comments

  • Who would have thought Bundy, Gausman and Worley would have back to back to back quality starts? More importantly, Gausman and Worley each go 7. That would be huge consistently down the stretch.

  • It sure is great to see both these guys doing well, but let's temper our expectations. Gausman's been good this year overall, but somewhat inconsistent. We have no idea with Bundy how many innings they're willing to let him rack up, nor what that will do (if anything) to his arm. It's could end unpleasantly or he could be this good all year with no ill effect.

    Don't get me wrong - I think both will have at least as many good games as bad from here on out. They may not always look as dominant as they have just now is all I'm saying.

  • Say Alaska ... normally I agree with your comments, but I believe LF is in good hands with a platoon of Reimold & Kim. I wonder if Mancini has played any OF this year?

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