Notes on the homestand, Britton's saves and Schoop's RBI tear

It was a strange homestand for the Orioles. They won five. They lost five. There were two sweeps. Orioles pitching gave up 27 runs in getting swept three straight by the Cubs. Then they allowed just four runs in a three-game stretch versus Texas. But then they allowed 30 runs the last four games of the homestand.

Yet they won two of those last four games thanks to a resurgent offense that has produce 51 runs the past six games with a .333 average and 13 home runs.

"What did we end up, 5-5?" manager Buck Showalter asked, sizing up the long homestand. "That's (Houston) a really good baseball team. You all know that. They have a lot of pieces that fit, a lot of movable parts, a lot of things.

"Our guys made a lot of adjustments to the pitching patterns. Score nine runs off that staff. In day games, there's a lot of stamina tested, especially here. When they're issuing warnings about not going outside and you play nine innings in three-and-a-half hours in something they've told you not to do, it's a challenge.

"It's still there for us, and that's the way everybody in the clubhouse thinks of it. Having Zach (Britton) back allows you to do some things that we haven't been able to do."

The Orioles scored nine runs on 14 hits in yesterday's 9-7 win. Seven different players drove in runs and they scored six runs in 4 2/3 innings against Houston starter Lance McCullers.

"We had good approaches," Trey Mancini said. "We laid off a lot of pitches out of the zone. Early on, McCullers, he's got some really good stuff, really sharp curveball, but we did a good job laying off pitches out of the zone. We were waiting for mistakes. He was a little erratic the first couple of innings and I think we took advantage of that."

The game ended with Britton recording his first save since April 14 and sixth for the year. It was his 55th consecutive converted save, which set an American League record. Britton had been tied at 54 straight with Tom Gordon of Boston, who made his run from April 19, 1998 through May 31, 1999. Britton's streak began Oct. 1, 2015 - so it has now impacted parts of three seasons.

Does Britton ever take a moment to think about what he has accomplished with the streak?

"I mean in the offseason, I looked (back) on the season last year and I thought, 'That's pretty crazy.' I never thought I could put together something like that at this level with how good these guys are. I'll reflect on it eventually," Britton said.

"I just want to get back to pitching like myself consistently. And you know, get in the game and help the team win the games I get in to pitch. That is always been the goal. Just never be the reason the team loses. Sometimes you are, but you know, I'm on a good roll and there are a lot of things, too, that have helped me get where I am."

Johnny Baseball drove in another run on Sunday. Second baseman Johnathan Schoop began Sunday third in the AL in RBIs and drove in his 70th run for the final run of the game. Schoop has an RBI in seven straight games. In that span, he is 13-for-30 (.433) with three homers and 16 RBIs.

Schoop had an excellent first half this year, but he had one last year, too.

* Schoop before the break in 2016: .304/.338/.509 with 23 doubles, 14 HRs, 52 RBIs
* Schoop before the break in 2017: 295/.347/.536 with 23 doubles, 18 HRs, 54 RBIs

But in the second half of 2016, Schoop hit .225/.252/.391 with 15 doubles, 11 homers and 30 RBIs. This year he wants to finish strong and complete two good halves of hitting.

"Last year was a lesson, too," Schoop said. "I learned from it and I want to be better from last year. I want to be better every day. Without my teammates, my numbers would not be what they are. They help me, talk to me and teach me things that have helped me get better."

Before Sunday's game, Schoop talked about his recent RBI tear. Click here to read that story.