Buck Showalter speaks after a 3-2 walk-off win

The Orioles are 19-2 when Jonathan Schoop hits a home run in his career. Why not have him do it more often and run away with the division?

It's a simple game. Why make it more complicated?

Schoop belted his first walk-off home run tonight, a solo shot off Tanner Roark with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, to give the Orioles a 3-2 win before 46,289 at Camden Yards, their largest crowd of the season.

The Orioles went 1-5 on the road trip. They lost eight of their last 10 games. They needed this one, though manager Buck Showalter is hesitant to place too much emphasis on it.

"You don't ever look a W against anything," he said. "It doesn't mean the season ends. I try not to put too much importance on one game because tomorrow you're going to face another good pitcher (Jordan Zimmermann).

"We knew that we were going to have to pitch well tonight to stay in the game, because that's kind of a given when you face them. And that's what (Chris) Tillman did. Chris was pretty good tonight."

Showalter rattled off a handful of plays that Schoop made tonight at second base, illustrating that his contributions extended beyond one big swing in the ninth.

"I thought that Jonathan probably accounted for four or five runs tonight. Jon impacted the game on a lot of fronts tonight," Showalter said.

Schoop was playing his fifth game since coming off the disabled list and his first at Camden Yards. Is he back to being the same player as last season?

"We were kind of looking for the guy who was there before he left, before he got hurt," Showalter said after his club improved to 1-36 when trailing after seven innings. "Sometimes we forget how young guys like him and Manny (Machado) and Bryce (Harper) and all those guys are. And it gets run up the flag pole at a very early age and they inflict that with how good they are. Jon's got a chance to be a good player and it's unfortunate because it looked like some of the challenges he fought through last year and the growing pains were going to start ...

"It's still going to take a little while. It's like all these guys that come back. They start off fairly comfortable and then they go through a period where they kind of hit the dead arm period that pitchers hit in spring training. The baseball gods remind them they can't just stay out that long and come back like that. Jon will be the first to tell you everything wasn't perfect tonight, but it's hard to do. They're a very good pitching staff."

Schoop is one of the more popular players in the clubhouse. Teammates were thrilled to get him back.

"He just has an infectious (personality)," Showalter said. "Jon doesn't take himself too seriously. He's very team-oriented. He has a lot of respect for his teammates, especially guys how have been around longer than him. He's a sponge. You've got to be careful about throwing too much at him because he listens. He's getting good at kind of taking out what doesn't work.

"The thing we stress to everybody is you can impact the game on both sides of the ball. The pitching's so good at this level. That's the biggest jump in the level of play from the minor leagues to the big leagues is the pitching you face every night. We're going to see two more. We're going to have to pitch well again to stay in the games."

Does one big hit potentially turn around a team that was headed in the wrong direction?

"We'll all take that, but you're a Zimmermann, (Max) Scherzer outing away from, then what is the answer?" Showalter said. "We live in reality. These are the best pitchers and players in the world. Momentum's the way you pitch and the way they pitch the next night. It's a good W for us and we'll see what the next two days bring."

Is the lineup stronger with Schoop in it?

"There are some nights when it's strong with Ryan Flaherty in it and has been in the past," Showalter replied. "Ryan's had a pretty good first half for us and he'll play again, maybe tomorrow. We'll see. It gives us some maneuverability and some what-ifs around the infield that we didn't have.

"We had to kind of invent Steve (Pearce) at second base and being able to make some moves and not worried about if we're covered in extra innings. It gives you a little more comfort level. Jon can play shortstop or third base, Ryan can play just about anywhere in the infield. Of course, Manny can, too. To have three infielders you can move really to all four spots makes it a lot easier to withstand some of those one- or two-day injuries."

Matt Wieters tied the game in the eighth inning with an RBI double off left-hander Matt Thornton. He's got two three-hit games in his last three starts, but Showalter indicated that Wieters will be on the bench Saturday night.

"Here's what you like about Matt. Matt had four games where it was a struggle with the bat," Showalter said. "It was a day game and usually he gets there early to go over all the hitters that we're going to face that night when he's catching, and he was in there early. He's not going to give in to saying it's just a period he's got to go through. He spent a lot of time in the cage that day. He came out with three hits that night.

"Matt's not going to take mediocrity. He's not going to just say, 'It's just something I've got to go through because I've been out.' He wants it to end after every at-bat. I try to keep in mind, this guy hasn't caught in over a year. There's some things little by little that will come back to him catching, too. We got spoiled at a very high level. I think some of the little things that you take for granted with Matt kind of come back to him the more he's back there. It's tough staying consistent with the bat when you're playing every other day. It really is. And that's something he's got to work through.

"We're not going to do the back-to-back again until after the break and see where we are."

Chris Tillman got another no-decision tonight and hasn't lost since May 31. He allowed two runs in the top of the fifth after the Orioles went ahead 1-0 in the bottom of the fourth.

Showalter said he isn't worried about Tillman giving back runs rather than producing shutdown innings.

"Not when he holds them to two runs in six innings," Showalter said. "I'll take our chances. I don't think anybody felt like we were going to win 1-0 tonight, so I'll take that outing Chris had. There have been many times when he's gone out there and pitched better and better as the game went on. He wanted to get through six innings for us because it set up pretty good for our bullpen, especially where they were with their lineup in the seventh. It allowed us to keep it close.

"Zach (Britton) pitched another solid inning and Brad (Brach) gives us a weapon against some left-handed hitters because of some things he can do with the ball."

Is Tillman slowly getting back to his previous form, the one that made him the obvious choice as the opening day starter?

"I don't know. Tonight he was. Let's see what the next outing brings," Showalter said.

"He was working on an extra day. That doesn't always work well with him. I know where these guys are going to fit after the break. What happens good or bad doesn't mean it's going to happen next time out. That's why we come to watch the games. Me, too. I wish it was played that simply. We'd just plug in the computer program and go with it. It would be awful boring though, wouldn't it?"