Orioles' Bundy pulled after allowing 7 runs without recording an out
Just when you thought things couldn't get worse for the Baltimore Orioles, they did.
The Orioles removed starting pitcher Dylan Bundy from Tuesday's game against the Kansas City Royals after he allowed seven earned runs in the top of the first inning. He allowed four home runs, including three consecutive at one point, and failed to record a single out.
FOUR homers, TEN runs.
— MLB (@MLB) May 8, 2018
The @Royals came to play. 😱😱 pic.twitter.com/k6tBRh7qyj
He also issued a pair of walks with only 13 of his 28 pitches being strikes.
It's, perhaps unsurprisingly, the shortest start in Bundy's career. The previous low came when he allowed four earned runs in 3 1/3 innings against the Tampa Bay Rays in 2016. He also has the unfortunate distinction of becoming the first pitcher in the modern era to allow four homers before recording an out, according to Richard Justice of MLB.com.
It matches his shortest career outing, however. Pitching out of the bullpen earlier in 2016 against the Houston Astros, Bundy failed to record an out, though he was yanked after facing only four batters. It wasn't nearly as disastrous, as he allowed only one earned run.
Losers of six straight games entering Tuesday, the Orioles received no respite from the similarly struggling Royals, who had hit only 29 home runs as a team (third-fewest in the majors) prior to their first-inning power surge.
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Things didn't get much better when Mike Wright Jr. replaced Bundy. The Royals managed four more base knocks and three more runs against the right-handed reliever. They sent 14 batters to the plate and went to the bottom half of the inning leading 10-0.
Bundy is the first pitcher of 2018 to be removed from a start before recording at least one out. In 2017, both Anibal Sanchez and Chris Archer were relieved from starts in the first inning with none out, but they only threw five and seven pitches, respectively.
The catastrophic outing seriously inflates Bundy's season stats. Before the game, he had a 3.76 ERA. After leaving, it's up to 5.31.