Notes and quotes after the Orioles' sweep of Kansas City

So, with an impressive three-game sweep of the hottest team in the league, the Orioles seem to have pumped some big-time life into their 2017 season.

While they are still an under-.500 team at 53-54, they are now just 2 1/2 games back for the second American League wild card spot. It no longer looks out of reach and they still have 55 games to play.

Their rotation, which once looked like it was going to set team records for being historically bad, suddenly has taken a turn for the better.

In sweeping Kansas City, they beat a team that was 10-1 in its previous 11 games heading into this series. The Royals were 14-8 against the AL East. They had scored 17 runs in three games at Boston before coming to Oriole Park and had scored five runs or more eight times in the previous 10 games. Then, in three games in Baltimore, they were held to three runs on 15 hits. O's starting pitching gave up one earned run over 22 innings.

How about this note from Fox Sports Kansas City: The Royals have scored five runs in their last six games at Camden Yards and that is the fewest they've scored in any six-game span at any venue ever.

O's starting pitchers had a season ERA of 6.02 on July 16. But in 16 games since, the season ERA has been reduced to 5.65, as O's starters allowed two earned runs or less 10 times.

The rotation has an ERA of 0.76 over the past five games, 2.79 in the last nine games and 3.90 over the last 16 games.

Yep, this has been a stunning reversal, and I will assume that all fans that threw in the towel on the season are welcome back on the bandwagon if they want back on.

The Orioles have not yet salvaged their season - not with only two good weeks of baseball. But they have given themselves a chance to do so and it wasn't that long ago that seemed like a pipe dream.

Joseph's offense: Orioles catcher Caleb Joseph continues to be productive with his bat. He hit a big two-run homer in the second inning last night to provide Jeremy Hellickson a 3-0 lead.

Joseph is batting .296 with an OPS of .799. Since June 1, he is batting .337. Last night was his 16th multi-RBI game of the year. Last year, he had 0 RBIs in 132 at-bats. This season, he has 22 in 179 at-bats.

What has been the key to Joseph's offensive resurgence?

"I wish I could bottle it and sell it," he said. "I'd probably quit baseball. Doing a lot of work with (hitting coach, Scott) Coolbaugh. I can't give the guy enough credit. He's in here every day working and we've really solidified a few things. Mainly, it is just trying to see the ball, get a pretty good pitch to hit, have a good approach.

"But one of the things for me is just mechanically. I needed to get more sound mechanically and it's kind of showing up. When you can put consistent swings on the ball, you can get desired results. When you have one spot and one area that you can hit the ball, you are not going to have a lot of success in this league. Lengthening the swing a little bit has really help and a lot of the credit goes to Scott."

For Joseph, though, defense is always job one. He was behind the plate for Hellickson's brilliant debut last night when he threw seven scoreless in the Orioles' 6-0 win.

He was catching a pitcher for the first time and that had to be challenging.

"I think stuff-wise you get a feel in the bullpen for the shapes of the pitches," he said. "It's the sequencing and trying to be comfortable with him that takes some time. We had a couple of bumps throughout the game today, but I think overall it went pretty well. He has so many weapons and that is kind of what you're looking for. How can I navigate through a big league lineup, especially when he is behind in the count? We did a lot of talking yesterday and that helped. Getting out there and having success the first time is really good. It builds a little bit of trust and you hopefully move on and continue that trust as the season progresses."

Speaking of trust, team management showed some in the clubhouse when it kept this team together and added to it, bringing in Hellickson and Tim Beckham. Joseph was asked if the recent winning ways justify the decision to not sell off players.

"They've invested a lot of money in this team, and there is a lot of faith put in this team with the fans and ownership and management," Joseph said. "We haven't panicked. I know it hasn't been exactly what we wanted it to look like, but there is still a never quit here. We have the type of team here - the guys in here, the power of the lineup, the way the starting pitching is trending, the back of the bullpen - to make a run at this. We've always believed it. We like the additions we've gotten, and hopefully it all jells and we can really make a run at this."

Beckham has had an impressive start with his new team, as well, going 4-for-8 the last two games. Last night, he had an RBI double and an RBI triple.

"I don't want to put too much thought into it, man," he said of his good start on offense as an Oriole. "I just want to continue to see the ball, play my game and do what I can to help the club."

He showed off some speed on his triple.

"Oh, yeah, I know I can run, man," Beckham said. "I can bring energy to the club, and if that hits the right-center gap and touches the wall, I expect to be on third. Anything to bring some energy and get my club going, man. Just doing what I can."