Orioles' postgame comments following 4-3 win

CHICAGO - Reliever Darren O'Day remains one of my favorite interviews inside the Orioles clubhouse, so let's start with him tonight. O'Day stranded two runners in the eighth by striking out Jose Abreu and Avisail Garcia. Zach Britton retired the White Sox in order in the ninth and the Orioles completed their sweep with a 4-3 victory at U.S. Cellular Field. "Actually, I didn't feel that good tonight," O'Day said. "Sometimes that's when you pitch better. But it's late in the season. At this point in the season, everybody's got little things that are nagging them. "In terms of pitching, we've got a good thing going down there. This is the most complete bullpen I've ever been a part of. It's a fun time right now to be down there." The enjoyment is shared by everyone on the team, which is 21 games above .500 and leading the American League East by nine games. "We're never out of a game. We really aren't," O'Day said. "Even if we give up a run or two early in the game, these guys hit the ball over the fence, and you get points when you do that. We started to do a good job of coming back and the bullpen's been shutting guys down. We like where we're at." Why are the Orioles so good on the road, where their record improved to 39-26? "I don't know. I really don't," O'Day said. "Maybe we like coming to the ballpark later, sleeping in. I don't know. Maybe it's the early wake-up call at home. Maybe it's our wives. Just kidding! No, I don't know. I really don't. But it's a good quality to have, because when we get down the stretch we're going to play some important road games, and in the playoffs you obviously have to play on the road, so it's a good quality to have." The Orioles apparently are allowed to say the P word. No festivus here. "I hope so," O'Day said. "That's our goal from the beginning is to be there, and that's what you play the game for, to play in the playoffs." Nelson Cruz talked about how the Orioles seem to take care of every detail. "We're really good as a team," he said. "We're doing the little things that matter in the end. The pitching, the bullpen, it's amazing to see everybody do their job and go about their business." Cruz tied his career high tonight with his 33rd home run, which leads the majors. "It's just personal stuff," he said. "I'm happy because we're winning. It's unbelievable the way we're playing. It seems like every day somebody is coming up and stepping up. It's more exciting. It's nothing better than coming to the ballpark every day with the chance of winning every game." Wei-Yin Chen won his career-high 13th game. "Of course I'm excited about that," he said through his interpreter. "Today the whole team performed really well, the bullpen. I got into some troubles out there, but my teammates really picked me up. "I would say everyone else is pitching better than me, but I think it's a really good competition out there. We all try to pitch better than each other. So it's a really good competition out there. "Our lineup, our guys are doing really good. Even if we are behind, we can catch up. Still, as a pitcher you don't want to fall behind. You don't want to give up any runs. So, that's what I tried to do out there, I tried to give up as few runs as possible. And today in the first inning, I had a mistake and allowed two runs out there and that's something you don't want to do." Chen also is comfortable talking about the playoffs. "Of course, everyone on this team wants to play in the playoffs," he said, "but right now it's still the regular season, so we just try to do our jobs and win every game." Here's a sampling from manager Buck Showalter. On whether Chen is stronger this season: "I just think, this is what, his third year? Everything he's taken in. Keep in mind, it's a league he didn't know, hitters he didn't know, country he didn't know. Little by little, he learned from his experiences. He's been pretty solid with his secondary pitches. He jerked a changeup across for the home run, but other than that he didn't make many mistakes. Of course, Darren was... it's hard to take that part of the order and do that." On Chen rebounding from the home run in the first inning: "The same with Tilly (Chris Tillman). Sometimes, osmosis will take over if you keep watching other guys do it and you know you're capable of doing it. Dave (Wallace) talks all the time about minimizing damage if something happens. You get back on the horse and keep your team engaged. There's been some times in the past where we've let that get away from us." On Chen and Bud Norris registering career highs in wins in this series "I think what they're interested in is doing a win thing for the Orioles. They're all trying to contribute and hold up their end of the bargain and pass the baton to the next pitcher, the next bullpen guy, the next starter. You've got to catch the ball behind you. Chris (Davis) made a big play tonight at third base. There's a lot of phases of our team that are capable of picking up something that might have down night." On the Orioles hitting three more home runs: "When we were coming in here, they were swinging the bats pretty good, so we sort of got fortunate and caught them on the other side. It's hard to continue at that pace, but we scored just enough runs to win. That was tight tonight. There wasn't much margin for error." On the Orioles' success away from home: "You give yourself some opportunities. There were some things we weren't perfect with tonight, but when you pitch well, it can cover some things when you catch the baseball. We played three good defensive games here. (Nick) Hundley was good again. You can tell the tempo there. When you establish the tempo, it makes hitters work at your pace."