Caleb Joseph's bat is heating up for the Orioles

In case you have not noticed, catcher Caleb Joseph is becoming an offensive force for the Orioles. For the season, he is batting .255 with 11 homers and 42 RBIs over 75 games and 239 at-bats.

Since regular starters usually get well over 500 at-bats over a full season, you can do the math to see how solid his run production has been. Not to mention his consistently solid performance on defense.

In 10 games this month, Joseph is batting .353 with five doubles, four homers, 11 RBIs, an .853 slugging percentage and an OPS of 1.224. Joseph has made nine starts in August and the Orioles are 7-2 in those games. Over his past 19 games, Joseph is batting .303 (20-for-66) with six homers, 21 RBIs and seven multi-RBI games.

What has keyed this good run on offense by Joseph?

"Just trying not to do too much," he said after Monday's win over the A's. "Stay within a routine. I'm learning a lot from the guys in here. Just kind of watching what they do and how they approach it.

"Just keep it simple, not overswing and have good at-bats. Be selective and have a plan and really execute it. Try not to give away at-bats. More times than not, you'll get a good pitch to hit and then it's your job to put a good swing on it."

Joseph has been solid in clutch situations, as well. He is batting .364 with runners in scoring position and is batting .417 with RISP and two outs.

Joseph gives the Orioles a pretty potent bat for a player that is batting ninth in the order a lot lately. Joseph has batted ninth in 38 games this year, hitting .298 with eight homers, 28 RBIs and an OPS of .944.

Joseph talked about the Orioles completing the four-game sweep of the A's last night.

"Big for us, especially coming off a disappointing series in Seattle," he said. "We really needed to pick it up. Showed up with the bats, made some good plays, got good starting pitching and our bullpen guys did a great job, too. That is a good recipe for success. Now we try to roll that into the next series against the Mets."

The Orioles and Mets begin a two-game series at Camden Yards tonight. In May, the Orioles lost 3-2 and 5-1 in two games at Citi Field. The Orioles had just 16 hits in that series, scoring three runs, and went 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position.

They face right-hander Jacob deGrom (11-6, 2.03 ERA) and right-hander Noah Syndergaard (7-6, 3.07 ERA) the next two nights. In deGrom, the Orioles tonight face a pitcher that is 2-0 with a 1.64 ERA in five starts since the All-Star break. He beat the Orioles May 6, allowing one run over seven innings with nine strikeouts.

The Orioles swept the A's, a club with the worst record in the American League. Now they face the Mets, a team that is 63-55 and leading the National League East by 4 1/2 games.