BALTIMORE — Mark Trumbo hit his major league-leading 38th home run, Jonathan Schoop also went deep and the Baltimore Orioles beat the Washington Nationals 4-3 Monday night in a matchup between neighboring contenders.
Rookie Dylan Bundy (7-4) pitched six innings of three-hit ball for the Orioles, who had lost five of their previous six games - all at home. The victory lifted Baltimore within two games of first-place Toronto in the AL East.
Bundy gave up two runs, walked four and struck out four. He’s 5-3 with a 3.56 ERA in eight games since joining the starting rotation on July 17.
Zach Britton worked a perfect ninth to earn his 38th save in 38 tries. The left-hander has not allowed an earned run in 43 games since May 5.
The Orioles did all their scoring against A.J. Cole (0-1) in his season debut. Cole was recalled from Triple-A Syracuse to replace scheduled starter Stephen Strasburg, who was placed on the 15-day disabled list with right elbow soreness.
Pitching in his fourth major league game and making his second start, Cole allowed five hits in seven innings. The right-hander struck out eight and walked two.
Anthony Rendon and Danny Espinosa homered for the NL East-leading Nationals and Daniel Murphy had his 48th multihit game.
It was the first of four successive games between the teams, two at Camden Yards and two at Nationals Park. The stadiums are 38 miles apart on MD-295.
The Nationals jumped on top in the first inning when Murphy singled for his 90th RBI.
Schoop tied it with his 20th homer in the third inning. After Rendon connected in the fourth, Baltimore took a 4-2 lead in the bottom half.
Doubles by Manny Machado and Chris Davis produced a run and Trumbo followed with a drive that soared far beyond the left-field wall.
Espinosa connected off Mychal Givens in the seventh. Washington got runners to second and third with two outs in the eighth before All-Star reliever Brad Brach struck out Ryan Zimmerman.
Orioles catcher Matt Wieters was activated off the paternity list and Caleb Joseph was optioned to Triple-A Norfolk. Joseph was batting .193 with no RBIs in 40 games. Manager Buck Showalter said the move would enable Joseph to get some at-bats on a regular basis, and that his stint at Norfolk would not exceed the minimum 10 days.
Nationals pitcher Reynaldo Lopez (2-1, 4.37 ERA) makes his fifth major league start Tuesday night. It’s the first time the right-hander will face an AL team.
Orioles pitcher Kevin Gausman (4-10, 4.11) is 1-5 with a 5.15 ERA in his nine previous interleague outings.
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