ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Baltimore Orioles manager Buck Showalter is generally an optimistic person, but he's genuinely encouraged by his team taking two of three on the road from the Tampa Bay Rays after Sunday's 5-2 win at Tropicana Field.

"I'm always encouraged. We're going to get back to our track record a little bit," Showalter said. "We're scoring more runs than they do after 27 outs, and that's the whole deal. I know we evaluate things numerically, but it's a mindset. It's a test of your will sometimes when you have a lot of people telling you the sky is falling and it's not."

The Orioles (48-49) jumped out to a 5-0 lead before the Rays had their first hit, giving a nice cushion for starter Wei-Yin Chen, who lasted only 5 1/3 innings but got 3 2/3 innings of scoreless relief from the bullpen.

"With a three-run lead, I can focus on my pitches and getting hitters out," Chen said through a translator. "Today we won because every hitter did their job and the bullpen did a great job. It was a team effort."

The Rays (49-51) are now 9-21 since being a season-high 10 games over .500 on June 20. Tampa Bay continues to struggle with runners in scoring position, its only runs in the last two games coming on solo home runs.

"We had some crucial situations where we could have really closed the gap or maybe possibly lead-change, and we just didn't get it done," Rays manager Kevin Cash said. "There's no doubt, there are some guys that are pressing, trying to do everything they can possible to help the team ... some of that is a fallback of doing too much."

The Orioles tagged Rays starter Matt Moore for three runs in the first and had a 5-0 lead in the third after a two-run home run by catcher Caleb Joseph. It was the second straight day Baltimore had an early lead to sit on, after jumping ahead 4-0 in the third in Saturday's win.

On Sunday, Baltimore had three hits with two outs in the first inning, with shortstop J.J. Hardy getting an RBI single and right fielder Nolan Reimold hitting a two-run double that was just out of the reach of diving Rays center fielder Brandon Guyer.

Joseph's seventh home run of the season made it 5-0 for Baltimore before the Rays had so much as their first hit against Chen, who retired the first 11 batters he faced.

The Rays cut into the lead with back-to-back home runs in the fourth, as third baseman Evan Longoria hit his 10th and second baseman Logan Forsythe followed with his 11th to make it a 5-2 game.

Left fielder Joey Butler followed with a double off the wall but was stranded there, and the Rays had two hits in the fifth without scoring.

From the fourth to seventh innings, the Rays stranded seven runners, ending the eighth inning when first baseman James Loney was thrown out trying to leg out a two-out double.

Four Baltimore relievers held the Rays to two hits and no runs, and Zach Britton pitched the ninth for his 25th save.

"The Rays have been as consistent as anybody in our division, so if you come in here 'Woe is me,' you're going to get it handed to you," Showalter said. "We've won two of the three series we've played on the road. I thought we pitched pretty well today, especially the bullpen."

NOTES: Florida State football coach Jimbo Fisher threw out the ceremonial first pitch before the game, with former Seminoles quarterback Jameis Winston, now with the Bucs as the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL Draft, catching on the other end. The Rays had a "Chop at the Trop" Florida State-themed promotion, complete with garnet-and-black Rays caps for fans purchasing certain tickets. ... Orioles C Matt Wieters got the day off with a sore back but is expected to be back in the starting lineup Monday. ... Rays LHP Drew Smyly was scheduled to make his first rehab appearance Sunday night for Triple-A Durham. He has been out since May 5 with a torn labrum in his throwing shoulder. ... Rays SS Asdrubal Cabrera will open a rehab assignment at Class-A Charlotte as he works to return from a groin injury.