Hundley on the homestand and his recent hot hitting, plus more O's notes

So that homestand went OK, right? The Orioles went 9-2 over the last 11 games at Camden Yards. If the Yankees had any hope of catching the Orioles, most of it should be gone by now. The Orioles took three of four from Minnesota and swept three from Cincinnati. They outscored their opponents 67-38 on the homestand and scored nine runs or more four times. Nick Hundley capped the Orioles' six-run first inning last night with a three-run homer to left. The O's catcher talked about the club's strong play during the homestand. "That is a great way to finish a sweep," he said. "You don't want to give up a lead but to battle back and show some big time resolve, that's a good way to end the series." Hundley hit a homer while batting eighth last night and No. 9 hitter Jonathan Schoop homered for the third game in a row. "We feel like our lineup is really deep and every one in the lineup is dangerous," Hundley said. "That is a good feeling to have. Lot of confidence in one through nine. Schoopy, you see how he is swinging the bat. They can't be much more dangerous in the nine-hole than that." Acquired in a deal from San Diego on May 24 along with cash considerations for pitcher Troy Patton, Hundley got off to a slow start at the plate for the Orioles. But his bat has heated up now. He has hit three-run homers in his last two starts, delivering Monday against Phil Hughes and last night against Mike Leake. Hundley is batting .360 (9-for-25) during a seven-game hitting streak with three homers and seven RBIs, raising his average as an Oriole from .212 to .240. What has been behind this good stretch for him? "Just getting back to my strengths," Hundley said. "There are a lot of things I got away from the last couple of years. I've been working a bunch with Press (Jim Presley), Einar (Diaz) and Brady (Anderson) and those guys have really got me back to my strengths. I owe a lot to them. There are very, very smart minds over here and I'm very, very excited about being over here." More notes on the Orioles: * Zach Britton recorded his 33rd save in 36 chances (91.7 percent) and has now recorded 18 straight saves since July 19. * Orioles starting pitchers worked to an ERA of 1.29 in the Reds series. Over 21 innings they allowed 13 hits and three runs with four walks and 21 strikeouts. * Chris Tillman has now made 17 straight starts allowing three earned runs or less. Tillman's outing last night did snap a streak of six straight starts allowing two or less runs. Over his last seven starts, he is 4-0 with an ERA of 1.74. His ERA is 2.26 the past 17 starts. * The Orioles bullpen has given up 12 runs over the last 10 innings after giving up just one earned run in the previous 22 innings. * The Orioles are 22-0 when they hit three or more homers in a game and 43-11 when they hit two or more. * The Orioles moved to 25 games over .500 at 82-57 for the first time since Oct. 2, 2012. If they win tonight they will be 26 games over for the first time since ending the 1997 season 34 games over at 98-64.