More notes on the comeback win and a look ahead

When Jonathan Schoop batted in the ninth inning yesterday in San Francisco, he had just one homer and one RBI in his previous 19 games. Nice time to break out.

Schoop's three-run homer completed the Orioles' comeback from a 7-1 deficit to an 8-7 win. They were down to their last out, trailing 7-5, when he connected. It was Schoop's 50th career home run.

Schoop has 18 homers this year. He has hit nine from innings one through six and nine more from the seventh inning on. He has four in both the seventh and eighth innings this year, and that was his first of the season in the ninth inning.

According to ESPN Stats and Info, it was the Orioles' first win when down by six or more runs after the fifth inning since May 10, 2013 against the Twins. In that game, the O's trailed 6-0 after five innings and won 9-6 in 10 innings.

Perhaps the Orioles offense is starting to percolate again. After scoring three runs on just 17 hits in the first three games of their series at Oakland, the Orioles scored 24 runs over the past four games. They have six homers in this stretch and have gone 12-for-35 (.343) with runners in scoring position.

Heading into Sunday's game, the Orioles had scored 175 runs this season in the seventh inning or later to rank third in the American League and sixth in the majors. The Orioles' 53 home runs in the seventh inning or later led the AL and ranked second in the majors. Then they added seven runs and two homers to those totals.

The Orioles won three of the last four games on their trip to finish 5-5. In the five games where they scored five runs or more, they went 5-0. When they scored four runs or fewer, they went 0-5. In fact, the Orioles scored 39 runs in the five wins on the trip and just seven runs in the five losses, scoring two or fewer all five games they lost. It was a real all-or-nothing road trip for the offense.

Is this a concerning trend or just the team experiencing even more ups and downs on offense than usual?

Meanwhile, O's starting pitchers worked to an ERA of 3.63 on the road trip and that is a respectable number. It was much better through eight games on the trip at 2.77 before Kevin Gausman and Wade Miley allowed nine runs over 8 1/3 innings in the last two games.

Sunday's game, however, ended a tough stretch for the Orioles. Since June 28, they have played 30 of 42 games on the road. They have gone 21-21 in that stretch and went 13-17 in the 30 road games.

Now they will play 25 of their final 45 games at home, where they have a winning percentage of .696 at 39-17. They are 13-4 in their last 17 games at home and 22-7 in their past 29 games at Camden Yards.

The O's return home for eight games starting Tuesday night against Boston, Houston and Washington. The home stretch is here. The Orioles are a half-game out with 45 to play. They have a shot to win the AL East and also have a shot at one of the two AL wild card berths. A lot is on the line. The final weeks should be quite fun.

By the way, was that the best win of the year yesterday?