There were a lot of big offensive performances in the Orioles' 11-3 victory over the Oakland A's on Sunday, but one of them might have added significance because it reflects the growth of one of the club's most promising players.
Jonathan Schoop took part in the meteor shower that was the Orioles' dynamic six-homer performance, but he also led off a pair of the later innings with singles while the game still couldn't be taken for granted.
The homer extended his hitting streak to 11 games. The two singles against two Oakland relievers showed that Schoop continues to mature as a hitter and as an all-around major league player. He had fell into a deep slump in mid-April that took his average down from .314 to .200 in a span of 12 frustrating days, but he has rebounded to bat .350 during his hitting streak to raise his overall average back to .257.
"He's kind of graduating some, little by little,'' said manager Buck Showalter. "I'm proud of him. I started doing a thing before the game — they're all creatures of habit — I tell them, 'Let's do something smart today.' He is. You see him hit that ball hard to right-center field, that's what he was doing in the spring and has done some this year. Strong young man. With certain guys, the ball makes a little different noise off the bat when they click it."
Alvarez visits Eutaw St.: When Pedro Alvarez led off the second inning with a game-tying home run, it wasn't just a home run. It was a prodigious blast that landed on Eutaw Street and caromed off the Warehouse next to one of the second-floor windows on one bounce.
"That was a big old boy home run,'' Showalter said. "That was kind of a reminder, I can do that too."
It was the first Eutaw Street homer of the year for the Orioles and the first by Alvarez in 20 career games at Camden Yards.