Jonathan Schoop homers twice, offense breaks out (quotes added)

Whether they were taking out several weeks worth of frustrations or just hammering a pitcher having a bad day, either way, the struggling Orioles will gladly take it.

Having lost eight of their previous nine games, they battered right-hander Adam Wainwright today for nine runs and seven hits over 1 2/3 innings as the Orioles beat St. Louis 15-7 to even this three-game series.

A pitcher that has seen much better days, the O's got to Wainwright for two runs in the first and seven in the second to build the early 9-1 lead. In 12 at-bats against him, they had seven hits with two doubles and three homers. Of his 268 career starts, none lasted less than two innings until this one. He tied career highs in homers allowed and runs allowed and his ERA jumped from 4.73 to 5.75.

The Orioles had hit four homers over their last six games and today they hit four in the first four innings. They finished with the game with five.

Adam Jones and Mark Trumbo hit back-to-back homers in the first to take a 2-1 lead as the O's went back-to-back for the fifth time. Both homers went 400-feet plus and Trumbo's blast ended a 14-game homerless streak.

In the second, the Orioles hit three balls over 100 mph off Wainwright. That inning featured a J.J. Hardy two-run double at 101 mph, a Manny Machado two-run homer to left center at 113 mph, and a Trey Mancini two-run double at 109 mph. When Jonathan Schoop plated Mancini with a single, the lead was 9-1.

That became 12-3 in the last of the fourth after one run scored via a wild pitch and Schoop hit a two-run homer, his 12th.

But St. Louis kept scoring against the shaky O's pitching staff. Miley left with two on and two outs in the sixth leading 12-4. But Dexter Fowler greeted reliever Alec Asher with a three-run homer for a 12-7 game. The O's used four pitchers to get through that inning. Wade Miley did get the win, allowing six runs (five earned) over 5 2/3 innings.

Mychal Givens got the last out of the sixth to restore some order on the mound. He went on to pitch a career-high tying 2 1/3 innings allowing one hit and no runs. He threw a career-high 42 pitches.

This was the 14th straight games O's pitching has allowed five or more runs. According to baseball-reference.com that extends a team record. The previous mark was 11 in a row in the 2007 season.

The O's added on to that 12-7 lead, scoring twice more in the seventh on Schoop's solo homer, his second homer of the day and Hardy's RBI double, his second double of the day to go ahead 14-7. Schoop went 4-for-4 with two homers and four RBIs. It is his second multi-homer game of the year and sixth of his career. Hardy drove in three.

The Orioles 15 runs today is a season-high and their most since scoring 19 on June 16, 2015. Entering this game they had scored three runs or less in 10 of the past 14 games.

So this was no tidy win by any stretch, but it was a win and the Orioles are 33-34 with their second win in ten games and just the eighth in the last 26. They are 22-11 at home.

In the series finale on Sunday afternoon, Ubaldo Jiménez (1-2, 6.71 ERA) pitches against righty Lance Lynn (5-3, 2.69 ERA).

Postgame quotes:

Schoop on all the recent losses: "It's difficult, but you have to press through it. We play in the good times and the bad times. You try to minimize the bad times. We are trying to get better and win more games. This team, we believe in each other. Even when we lose we believe we'll break out of it. Today was a good win and hopefully we keep it up through the whole season."

Schoop on being on the right side of a lopsided game: "It's a really good feeling. When you win it's a really good feeling and we want to do it more."

Miley on the early offense: "Man, that was huge. Guys definitely came out swinging the bats. Put us in a situation where I can go out there and kind of relax and try to get outs. Try to make as many quality pitches as I can. They scored some runs, but at the same time we scored more than they did. We win."

Miley on the tough stretch recently for the starters: "It's been a grind, no doubt. But baseball is going to throw that at you, at some point every year. Just kind of how we come through it and hopefully we're moving in the right direction."

Miley on Givens pitching well today: "Outstanding. Hate to say it, but he's well-rested. We haven't been giving him an opportunity to get in games here lately. But, yeah outstanding for him to come in and shut the door on any rally they had."

Givens on his long outing: "Feel good. Just go out and try to shut down the inning and hopefully give us time to cover the bullpen. Just going out there to try and pound the zone and get outs."

Givens on throwing a career-high 42 pitches: "Not really (didn't feel like that many). I wish I got ahead of a lot hitters but then fell back behind. They fouled off a lot of good pitches. Just worrying about tomorrow and see how I feel. Last time I threw that (many) was probably in the minor leagues, but I feel good."

Givens on the ball that knocked his glove off: "Just got the glove all the way. He hit it pretty well and it knocked my glove off. Just (had to) stay calm and have the mindset of a fielder to get the ball and get it to first base."