Gausman, Britton and Jones comment after the O's beat the Angels

Kevin Gausman retired the first 14 batters he faced tonight, but he walked three in a row and they all scored in the top of the fifth.

But he was pleased that he rebounded from that poor inning to get Los Angeles out in the sixth and seventh to complete his outing as the Orioles beat the Angels 4-3.

"I was pretty mentally drained after that fifth inning," he said. "Just tried to continue to lock in. Dave (Wallace) and everyone on the bench just said try to live pitch by pitch and focus on one pitch.

"That was pretty big for me right there. I think that is what aces do at this level. If they do have a bad inning, they come back and put up a zero."

Gausman got the win and is 5-3 with an ERA of 3.67 after allowing just three hits over seven innings.

"I was trying to establish my fastball in and out, kind of what I had been doing the whole game" Gausman said of the fifth. "I think I was a little quick out of the stretch. When Dave came out he told me that. Gave up that hit to (Chris) Iannetta. He knew a fastball was coming and I left it over the plate too much.

"I was getting some pitches down in the zone, which was great for me (early in the game). Just felt in rhythm and in control. It is fun to get into that rhythm."

The Orioles defense backed Gausman well tonight as Nick Markakis made a diving catch to end the fourth and Manny Machado made an amazing play and throw from foul territory to end the fifth.

"Our defense has been incredible all year and they just continue to make amazing plays behind us," Gausman said. "Definitely gives you confidence with our defense to go at hitters."

Did Gausman ever think about pitching a no-hitter the way he was rolling into the fifth inning?

"No, if it would have been the eighth, maybe I would thought, 'This might be my day.' But it was a little too early for that," he said.

Zach Britton closed it out for his 21st save as the Orioles won another one-run game.

"It's a credit to our offense putting the runs up and the starting pitching going deep in the games," Britton said. "Then Darren (O'Day) came in and did what he normally does. That was the key. We got pitching, some offense and timely runs.

"Our defense is outstanding. That play that Machado made to end the game was outstanding. That is something that comes with the territory with sinkers. We have an outstanding defense and it benefits me that much more."

Adam Jones did not have any explanation on why he has hit 11 of his 21 homers in the first inning this year as he did tonight. But it sure does help the O's starters.

"Giving the starters an early lead makes it a little more comfortable," Jones said. "If you are able to get some runs early it allows the starting pitcher to breath, especially the young guys.

"I don't care who I hit them against but he's (Garrett Richards) having a helluva year, a Cy Young type of year. We needed some runs and were able to get some."

It was another night where the Orioles beat a very good pitcher, one with the sixth-best ERA in the league.

"Grind it out," Jones said. "You ask the why (we beat them) and I don't know the why. But on the other side of it, look at guys that have probably under 10 starts in their career and look what they do against us. They go into the seventh with two hits. Why? I'm not here to answer the why. Just try to find a solution and win.

"The second half of the season is where you need to win series. You try to sweep everybody but you need to win series. Win two of three from everybody (and) you'll put yourself in a good situation."

Jones had some praise for Gausman, who went seven to get the win.

"We needed a solid start out of him after our bullpen went seven last night. He went out and battled his tail off for us and gave us our best opportunity to win. That is all we ask from any starter," Jones said.

Jones was asked if this is the most mentally tough team he has played on.

"We just grind, man," he said. "Everyone is mentally tough. You just grind. We are professional athletes that give it our all and we can live with the results."

And one last word on the O's defense tonight and this year.

"The league knows we play good defense," Jones said. "We are not underrated anymore. The league knows that over the last three or four years we have five or six Gold Glovers on this team and we are missing one behind the dish. This team can pick it. I don't want to jinx us. We can play some defense and we understand the value of it."