BALTIMORE (AP) - On a night in which the Baltimore Orioles hit two home runs and scored their first run on a balk, Dylan Bundy didn’t have to be exceptionally sharp to earn his fourth straight victory.
Bundy was plenty good enough, however, pitching six effective innings to help the Orioles beat the Chicago White Sox 6-5 on Saturday night.
Trey Mancini homered and had three RBIs, and Manny Machado also went deep to key a 12-hit attack. After Baltimore built a 4-0 lead in the second inning, Bundy and the bullpen made it stand up.
Bundy (5-1) allowed three runs and six hits, walking one and striking out three. The right-hander is tied for the major league lead in wins and has pitched at least six innings in each of his seven starts.
“I was grinding. I didn’t have my curveball all game,” Bundy said. “It’s nice when your hitters give you a lead to work with. You don’t feel as much pressure.”
Bundy has not allowed more than three runs in any start this season.
“It means I’m on a roll,” he said. “I feel good and my body feels good.”
Orioles manager Buck Showalter said: “He’s in a good place. He’s pitching. He’s got a purpose to everything he’s doing.”
Mychal Givens surrendered a two-run homer to Jose Abreu in the eighth before Darren O’Day worked a perfect ninth for his second save. The Orioles are without a clear-cut closer after lefty Zach Britton was placed on the disabled list for a second time Saturday with a strained left forearm.
Regardless, the Orioles will seek to complete a three-game sweep on Sunday.
Cody Asche homered to help the White Sox get close, but Chicago fell to 6-14 in its last 20 games at Camden Yards.
“Guys kept battling,” manager Rick Renteria said. “They had really good at-bats middle and late. By the end of the day we had the potential tying run at the plate in the ninth inning despite everything that had transpired in the game.”
Still seeking his first major league victory, Chicago rookie Dylan Covey (0-3) gave up six runs and 10 hits in four-plus innings. He’s got an 8.28 ERA and has allowed seven home runs in five starts.
“I have to avoid the long ball. It’s been my Kryptonite,” Covey said.
Renteria put off deciding whether Covey would remain in the rotation.
“It wouldn’t be prudent for me at this particular point and this moment to make a decision like that or talk about contemplating that,” the manager said.
The Orioles batted around in a three-run first inning that featured five hits, a walk and a bases-loaded balk.
Machado made it 4-0 in the second with his team-leading eighth home run, the fourth in the last six games.
Chicago halved the margin in the fifth inning, getting a sacrifice fly from Melky Cabrera and an RBI single from Leury Garcia.
Mancini connected in the bottom half with a two-run drive that ended Covey’s outing.
DREAM SEASON
Mancini has six home runs this season and was beaming after his first three-RBI game in the big leagues.
“It means a lot to me,” he said. “I still have to pinch myself sometimes that I’m here and contributing to the team.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
White Sox: 3B Todd Frazier was back in the lineup after missing two games with back stiffness. “I am the kind of guy who plays through a lot of stuff, (but this) was something I just couldn’t do,” he said.
Orioles: Britton and RHP Gabriel Ynoa (hamstring) were placed on the 10-day DL. … 2B Jonathan Schoop sat out the game after being hit on the right wrist with a pitch on Friday night. He had a streak of 190 consecutive starts, second-most in the majors behind Kansas City’s Alcides Escobar (199). … LHP Wade Miley said he had full range of motion in his left wrist, where he was struck with a line drive on Friday.
UP NEXT
White Sox: Jose Quintana (2-4, 4.10 ERA) makes his seventh start. The left-hander is 2-0 with a 0.64 ERA in his last two starts.
Orioles: RHP Chris Tillman comes off the DL to make his season debut following a lengthy bout with shoulder bursitis.
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