Orioles 4, Rays 2: Caleb Joseph recorded two hits and knocked in a pair of runs as Baltimore defeated visiting Tampa Bay for the second straight night.

Nelson Cruz had two hits and an RBI while Jonathan Schoop drove home the go-ahead run as the Orioles extended their lead in the American League East to seven games. Brad Brach (5-0) retired four batters for the victory as Baltimore’s bullpen completed 4 ½ scoreless innings, capped by a perfect ninth from Zach Britton for his 28th save.

Evan Longoria had a pair of hits and two RBIs while Desmond Jennings added two singles for the Rays, who have dropped seven of their last 10 games. Grant Balfour (1-6) gave up two runs and four hits in one inning-plus to suffer the loss for Tampa Bay, which has dropped 10 of 14 games against the Orioles in 2014.

Longoria tied the game at 2 with a run-scoring double to left in the fifth inning, but Schoop’s RBI single to left with two outs in the sixth to put the Orioles ahead for good. Cruz provided more cushion for Baltimore in the seventh when he pounded a Joel Peralta pitch to the wall in right-center for an RBI double.

The Rays collected six hits in their first 10 batters of the game, but had two runners thrown out at the plate and scored only once on Longoria’s RBI single in the first inning. The Orioles forced Tampa Bay starter Alex Cobb to throw 92 pitches before the fifth inning and Joseph’s two-out, two-run single put them ahead 2-1 in the fourth.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Cobb, who extended his unbeaten streak to 11 games, allowed two runs on three hits and three walks with six strikeouts in four innings while Baltimore starter Wei-Yin Chen permitted two runs on seven hits and three walks over 4 2/3 frames. … Baltimore 1B Steve Pearce singled in the fifth to increase his hitting streak to a career-high nine games. … Tampa Bay’s protest of Saturday’s loss at Toronto, over what it deemed was an illegal use of instant replay, was denied by Major League Baseball on Tuesday.