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Mark Trumbo, Manny Machado homer; Baltimore Orioles' Dylan Bundy gets first win

By Jeff Seidel, The Sports Xchange
Baltimore Orioles' Manny Machado. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI
Baltimore Orioles' Manny Machado. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo

BALTIMORE-- The combination of good starting pitching and power hitting helped the Baltimore Orioles regain first place in the American League East on Friday night.

Mark Trumbo hit a three-run homer in the first inning, Manny Machado added a solo shot in the third and Dylan Bundy picked up his first major league win as a starter to lead the Orioles to a 5-1 victory over the Cleveland Indians.

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With the win, the Orioles reclaimed first place from the Red Sox. Minnesota beat Boston 2-1 and Baltimore now holds a half-game lead in the division.

Trumbo's blast was his 29th of the season and Machado's solo shot -- his 20th -- stretched the lead to 5-0. Both homers came off Indians starter Trevor Bauer (7-4).

The homers helped Bundy (3-2) to the victory. The right-hander threw five strong innings, allowing one unearned run and five hits with five strikeouts and no walks -- an effort the Orioles desperately needed from a starter.

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"That's a real good offensive team over there, so that makes it even more impressive," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. "He was good. He pitched as much as threw."

Bundy's five innings and 87 pitches also were season and career bests. He lost at Tampa Bay on Sunday in his first start, giving up three homers in 3 1/3 innings.

This time, Bundy worked all of his pitches into the game in the early innings, mixing them up and keeping the Indians off-balance. He settled in as the game went on and retired 10 of the final 13 batters he faced.

"It's great to give the team five innings and go out there and give the team a chance to win," Bundy said. "That's the starter's goal in the game is to give the team a chance to win, and I was able to do that today."

Bauer gave up five runs and five hits in four innings plus one batter. He has lost two straight decisions.

Odrisamer Despaigne came on after Bundy and threw 3 2/3 shutout innings before Zach Britton got the final out for his 31st save in 31 chances this season.

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Baltimore has won two straight after losing four in a row.

The Orioles broke out of a recent power drought early in this game. Trumbo hit his three-run shot in the first inning -- the team had gone three games without a homer -- to give Baltimore a quick 3-0 lead.

After Adam Jones added a sacrifice fly in the second, Machado led off the third with his solo shot to center that made it 5-0 as Bauer struggled for a third consecutive start.

"I've got to do a better job," Bauer said. "I had to keep us in it tonight. I know it's going to be a low-scoring game when I pitch. I've got to give the team a better chance to win."

The Indians cut it to 5-1 with an unearned run in the fifth that scored when Carlos Santana grounded into a double play. Abraham Almonte led off with a double and later got caught in a rundown but safely made it back to third before scoring on Santana's double play.

Cleveland just could not generate much offense against Bundy or Despaigne.

"Bundy came out, we've seen him in the bullpen where he's kind of just trying to throw hard, but he pitched tonight," Indians manager Terry Francona said. "He started to use his secondary pitches and had a really good changeup. Both (Bundy and Despaigne) basically had a fastball and a really good changeup. They were kind of alike."

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NOTES: The Orioles placed OF Joey Rickard on the 15-day disabled list with a right thumb ligament injury he suffered in New York earlier this week. Orioles manager Buck Showalter said after the game he'll be out around four to six weeks. The move is retroactive to Thursday. Baltimore recalled OF Dariel Alvarez to take his place. ... C Matt Wieters (sore foot) did not play for a fourth straight day, but manager Buck Showalter said he's close to returning. ... OF Lonnie Chisenhall was in the original Cleveland starting lineup, but manager Terry Francona pulled him because of a virus. ... OF Michael Brantley, on the disabled list with shoulder problems, will start baseball rehab work again next week after "an outpatient procedure to relieve scar tissue buildup in his shoulder," the team said on Twitter Friday. Brantley had some more soreness in the front of his shoulder, but it felt better afterward and trainer James Quinlan said doctors were encouraged by what they saw. ... The Indians recalled RHP Cody Anderson from Triple-A Columbus retroactive to July 19 after putting RHP Joe Colon on the 15-day disabled list because of right shoulder inflammation.

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