BALTIMORE --
Bundy and Hyde both expressed a similar sentiment, Hyde saying, “I hope he builds on tonight and continues to pitch well the rest of the year.” Bundy characterized it as continued progress, citing improved fastball command during his past three starts. But unlike each of those, the big hit never came. Bundy didn't allow a runner to advance past second base and twice elicited soft contact to squash potential threats.\n\nThe righty threw 62 of his 96 pitches for strikes and, for the second consecutive home start, didn’t allow a home run. Bundy, who allowed an MLB-high 41 home runs last year, hadn’t done that in the same season since August 2017. He received a standing ovation from the announced crowd of 15,241 for his efforts.\n\n“I felt like I was throwing all pitches to all parts of the plate, mixing it up on them, keeping them guessing,” Bundy said. “It’s all about rhythm and tempo. You want to keep that rolling and attack the hitters.”
\n\nPitching with a lead for most of the night, Bundy did exactly that.\n\n
But the weather held out to allow Bundy to spend the evening dealing in a fashion Hyde said he has been “begging our guys to do” -- by commanding his fastball off the plate with an eye toward opening other zones for his secondary pitches. Bundy struck out only four, but he generated enough weak contact to give credence to Hyde’s assessment. He induced nine groundouts, just two that surpassed Statcast’s 95 mph exit velocity [“hard hit”](http://m.mlb.com/glossary/statcast/hard-hit-rate) threshold.\n\nOne particularly weak Willy Adames dribbler, against reliever