Buck Showalter on Chris Tillman and a 2-0 win

As the Orioles were being swept in New York last week, manager Buck Showalter reminded anyone who would listen that the sky wasn't falling.

"It sounded like the right thing to say at the time," he said tonight. "Maybe it was."

The Orioles have strung together five consecutive wins, finishing off their sweep of the Braves tonight with a 2-0 victory before 29,320 at Camden Yards. They're two games above .500 for the first time since July 10 and only one game behind the Twins for the second wild card spot.

The sky is intact.

"I was just being frank," Showalter said after Chris Tillman tossed 8 2/3 scoreless innings and Zach Britton earned his 26th save.

"We're not ever going to give in. There's no sympathy in this game. The great thing about it is there's an opportunity around every corner to get things going, good or bad. You try to maintain the good spells. Obviously, this time of year, it's gets tougher to withstand a long, tough spell."

The rotation suddenly won't allow one, registering a 1.25 ERA in the last six starts.

Tillman (8-7) is above .500 for the first time since being 2-1 on April 18. He's allowed three runs in his last four starts covering 29 2/3 innings.

Manager Buck Showalter removed Tillman at 95 pitches after Cameron Maybin's two-out double in the ninth. Britton retired Freddie Freeman to end it.

Was it a hard decision?

"Of course. It was tough. Yes, it was," Showalter said.

"We caught like four or five line drives. We had some balls ... one deflected off him to J.J. (Hardy), one deflected off (Chris) Parmelee that Jonathan (Schoop) followed through it on. So we were fortunate with a couple of them, but he was great. And that's obvious, but we also have a pretty good option there with Zach Britton. I wanted to get him back on the horse, too.

"If it had been somebody other than Freeman, we might have looked at that differently."

Showalter said he would have let Tillman try to finish - and give the Orioles their first complete game and complete-game shutout since Miguel Gonzalez on Sept. 3, 2014 - if the lead had been larger than two runs.

"Not really deep stuff going on here," Showalter said. "Freeman is just one of the best hitters in the National League."

Tillman didn't hide from Showalter after the eighth.

"He didn't have to," Showalter said. "I was hiding from him, hoping he wouldn't say something that would want me to change the karma of that game."

Tillman has been a different pitcher since that disastrous outing in Toronto on June 21. But it's the same determined look in his eyes.

"Chris has got it every start," Showalter said. "Guys like him are striving for perfection in a job in the world that just won't let it happen. He came close to it tonight.

"I can't say that it's ever a focus or a want-to issue with him. That's why we have so much confidence in him when you start talking about track record. He's going to figure it out. He's not just going to say, 'It's just one of those bad starts you have.' He wants to have 35 good starts and that's what he focuses on. And he'll focus on it again in the next four days."

What happened after Toronto?

"Work days, everything that goes on with him and Wally (Dave Wallace) and Dom (Chiti) and Brady (Anderson)," Showalter said. "I guess I get out of their way. I've seen the results when you do. The confidence that a guy that's still young but has gone through some ups and downs, has some confidence and some stuff about what he's capable of doing. As long as he's feeling fine physically, he knows he can."

Home runs by Jonathan Schoop in the third and Hardy in the fourth provided all the scoring. Tillman isn't the only one streaking.

"We've gone through a pretty good stretch here where our guys have been pretty good," Showalter said. "It goes without saying it's something we're going to need while we try to figure out a way to get better offensively, which we have on a given night. But pitching like we've been pitching keeps you in every game. I'll take my chances with that. And we've been catching the ball well."

Tillman hasn't allowed a home run in his last six starts, the second-longest streak of his career. He didn't give up a homer in seven consecutive outings from April 18-May 27, 2011.

The Orioles are 23-2 when Schoop hits a home run in his career.