Game 85: Orioles @ Twins

Time: 7:10 Central. Vegas Line: -140 MIN / BAL +130

Weather: Start Temp 79°, No Chance Of Rain, Stay Indoors

Opponent's Prolific SB Site: Camden Chat

TV: FSN. Radio: I'm Already Looking Forward To Next Year's Bizarre Ads

On the morning of April 26th, Orioles starter Dylan Bundy would be justified feeling pretty good about himself. The 25-year-old, who broke into the majors at 19 before suffering the dreaded TommyJ, was coming off a decent 2017 season and had solidified his place in Baltimore's rotation. In his first five 2018 starts, he'd allowed all of five earned runs in 32 innings. Not too shabby!

But, on that day, the Rays knocked him around for eight runs (seven earned), raising his ERA from 1.42 to 2.97. Next start, Angels, seven runs, five earned, ERA 3.76. Then, against the mighty bats of Kansas City, Bundy was yanked in the first inning. Without retiring a single hitter, he'd given up two walks and five hits. Four of those hits were homers. ERA up to 5.31.

The Orioles stuck with him, though, and in the next eight games, he'd pitch 54.1 frames, giving up only 16 runs. What's the moral of this story? Don't pee all over a guy when he has a bad 17 days, maybe.

Over at FanGraphs, Jeff Sullivan laid out the gruesome details of that KC start in this piece called A Bad Day At Work. It has all the GIFs you could ask for, if you want to see a mound meltdown that doesn't involve a Twins pitcher. Sullivan sympathetically notes how "it’s the lowest moments that make the good ones so good." True enough. Digits:

Elsewhere on the site, Alex Chamberlain adds up all that pitchy-statty-stuff and comes to the conclusion that Bundy needs to throw his slider more. I'll take his word for it, I'm no baseball whiz (we all learn as we go, just me more slowly than most).

One last thing, FanGraphs -- stop asking me for money! I love your site, I learn a lot from it, but I'm DEAD DAMN BROKE. The same goes for a lot of non-sports-related sites I read, some of which I used to give dollars to. It's making me feel guilty as hell.

Will this be Sir Lance-a-Lynn's last appearance at the Twins' Mound Table? We'll find out!