Colton Cowser turned Coors Field into his own highlight reel Monday night, and the Orioles made sure it counted.
Baltimore left Denver with a 2-1 win over the Colorado Rockies, but the play everyone will remember came in the ninth inning. Cowser tracked down Jake McCarthy’s drive and made a leaping catch at the wall to steal a walk-off two-run homer and end the game.
The Orioles were stunned by it in the best possible way.
"They have such a big outfield where your normal depth is way deeper than what it should be, so it was more than normal depth," Cowser said postgame, according to Jake Rill of MLB.com. "And kind of before the play - just kind of the whole inning - it was like, 'If there's a ball hit kind of deep, just get your head down and go.' And by the grace of God, we came down with it."
Manager Craig Albernaz didn’t try to dress it up.
"It's the best play I've ever seen," Albernaz said.
Cade Povich, who started for Baltimore, was just as taken aback.
"Incredible. Gutsy," Povich added. "To go up and make the grab, it's just one of those plays that, if you see it in person, it's special."
McCarthy could only nod at the moment.
"That was a hell of a play," the Rockies outfielder said. "That was crazy, obviously, the situation, just how difficult that play is."
The win pushed Baltimore to 69-69 and moved the club within half a game of the Cleveland Guardians for the American League’s final wild-card spot. It also got the Orioles back to .500 for the first time since April, with the club now riding four straight wins and eight victories in its last 10 games.
In Other News...
Orioles Already Sent A Clear Message With Luis De Lens Debut
Luis De Lens major league debut came in relief against the Rockies, and even in a brief one-inning look, the Orioles got a small snapshot of why they brought him up. He struck out one batter, showed the kind of arm that can miss bats at this level, and also learned immediately how quickly the margins tighten in the big leagues when a two-run homer changes the shape of an outing.
Craig Albernaz and De Lens teammates still came away talking about his potential future role, which is often the real point of these first appearances for a young pitcher. For Baltimore, the debut was less about one line on a scorecard than about sending a message that De Len is in the conversation now, with the next step depending on how the Orioles decide to use and develop him from here. [Read more 🡒]
Orioles Are Pulling Off A Trade Deadline Balancing Act
The Orioles spent the trade deadline walking a line that few clubs are willing to try this late in a season, moving notable pieces while still keeping one eye on the playoff race. Baltimore dealt away key players including Adley Rutschman, Taylor Ward and Tyler Wells, then brought back a wave of prospects, a haul that signaled a clear bet on the future without fully shutting the door on the present.
Even with the sell-off, the Orioles were still hanging around the wild card picture in early September, which is what makes the deadline such a balancing act. The Athletics report handed Baltimore an A grade for the moves, pointing to both the clubs continued contention and the promise in the prospects it added, leaving the bigger question for the weeks ahead: whether the front offices mix of short-term competitiveness and long-term planning can pay off on both fronts. [Read more 🡒]
Orioles Face A Tough Jackson Holliday Decision At The Worst Time
Jackson Hollidays rookie season has reached the kind of stretch that forces a contender to weigh patience against practicality. Since Aug. 1, the 22-year-old first overall pick has been one of the Orioles least productive regulars, hitting just .202/.242/.310 with a 50 wRC+, while also battling through uneven defense. Even so, Baltimore has kept running him out there as the club tries to stay in the playoff race, betting that the long view still matters even in a crowded pennant chase.
Blaze Alexanders return only sharpens the question of how much longer the Orioles can keep sorting through Hollidays growing pains in real time. Alexander has handled right-handed pitching well, giving the club another option as the games start to carry more weight, and that leaves Baltimore with a tricky playing-time puzzle at exactly the wrong moment. For a team with postseason hopes on the line, every at-bat and every defensive decision now carries a little more consequence than it did a month ago. [Read more 🡒]
