Joseph, Chen and Schoop's postgame comments after O's top Tampa Bay

After winning with five home runs last night, the Orioles had just one extra-base hit, a double, tonight. They had to grind out a 4-2 win over the Tampa Bay Rays. "That is the best way to describe it," said catcher Caleb Joseph, who contributed a two-run single. "You are going to grind these games out. Most AL East games are that way. Coming off last night, we had a great game and you want to repeat it, but the pace of the game kind of slows your excitement down a little bit. "But Wei-Yin (Chen) kind of dodged some trouble, our bullpen escaped a few jams and we got timely hits. That has kind of been the M.O. of this ballclub - pitch well, get timely hits and play good defense." This might be the kind of a game a team would have to win, say, playing October postseason baseball. "You have to win all kinds of games," Joseph said. "These are the kind of ones that slip away it seems like toward the end. But we did a good job tonight. These are the type of games you are going to have to have late in the season." Batting eighth and ninth tonight, Joseph and Jonathan Schoop combined for three hits and three RBIs. "We have to do that kind of stuff to win games," Joseph said. "Our big boys, they've been carrying us so long. We really have to produce. Tonight, we did and it felt good." Joseph talked about Chen, who lasted just 4 2/3 innings for his second shortest start of this year. "He just didn't have a lot of finish to it," Joseph said. "The stuff was there and we had a great bullpen. A lot of times that is not an indicator necessarily. Sometimes late in the year, you have one mechanical issue that doesn't allow your pitches to finish, but he did a good job in limiting the damage." Chen gave up seven hits and two runs, throwing 91 pitches. He was 3-1 with a 2.34 ERA in his previous five starts. "I wouldn't say it was my best day," Chen said through his interpreter. "My mechanics and my control, it was kind of a struggle tonight. "There were times I faced this situation at the beginning of the game and I could make an adjustment and work my way back. Tonight I couldn't but my teammates made some great plays and helped me out. Our bullpen and defense were great out there. This win was kind of a win for the team." Schoop, who began tonight batting .241 with runners in scoring position, drove in the go-ahead run in the sixth inning. His single off Grant Balfour gave the Orioles the 3-2 lead. "My approach was to be aggressive because I know he likes his fastball," Schoop said. "Tried to hit the ball hard and drive him in. I try to get comfortable in every at-bat and those at-bats count a lot. Your team needs you to come up with a big hit. Tried to concentrate a little bit better. "It was really important for the bottom of the lineup to contribute and help the big guys. Me and Caleb came up big today. This is really good to win this game against a team in our division." The Orioles are 17-5 at home since June 30, posting a 2.63 ERA. In their last 22 home games, the Birds have outscored their opponents 109-64. Joseph collected his 23rd RBI tonight, ranking second among rookie catchers in MLB, behind only the New York Mets' Travis d'Arnaud. Joseph also ranks second among rookie catchers in hits (41) and first in go-ahead RBIs (seven). Brad Brach owns a 0.56 ERA with 16 strikeouts over his last 13 outings. Brach has not allowed a run over his last 11 outings covering 14 innings, a career-high. Zach Britton has converted 13 consecutive saves since July 19 and is now 28-of-31 (90.3%) in save opportunities this season.