Dylan Bundy looking like a difference-maker for Orioles

12:11 AM ET

BALTIMORE — Breaking news: The Baltimore Orioles have acquired a top-tier starting pitcher from … their bullpen.

OK, so maybe it’s a little early to call Dylan Bundy “top-tier.” But in Wednesday’s 3-1 loss to the Colorado Rockies, Bundy looked like the game-changing hurler the Orioles envisioned when they selected him with fourth overall pick in the 2011 draft.

Making just the third start of his career, the 23-year-old rookie dominated Colorado’s high-octane offense through the first five innings. He retired the first 15 batters he faced, including eight on strikeouts.

“He had great stuff,” catcher Matt Wieters said. “The first five innings, he was locating his off-speed pitches, mixing and matching.”

But in the sixth, Bundy — who spent the first three months of the season in the bullpen getting his big-league legs under him and hadn’t thrown more than five frames in an outing — ran out of gas.

Dylan Bundy took the loss Wednesday against the Rockies, but for five innings, he flashed the sort of stuff the Orioles have badly needed. Nick Wass/AP Photo

The low-fuel light first came on when Daniel Descalso hit a swinging bunt that traveled all of about 12 feet in front of home plate to the third-base side. Bundy pounced off the mound, corralled the ball and fired to first just in time to keep the perfect game intact. The crowd of 20,000-plus knew exactly what was going on and rewarded the young righty with a raucous standing ovation — not the normal reaction for a 1-3 putout, but then again, this was not a normal night.

Although he was still perfect, Bundy seemed perfectly exhausted. Between the athletic defensive play, the stifling Baltimore heat (game-time temp was in the 90s), and the fact that his pitch count was more than 70 for just the second time in his career (he threw a career-high 87 in his previous start), the newest member of the O’s rotation was toast.

Said Wieters: “The great play he made on the cue ball down the line, …

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