Colton Cowser made a leaping catch at the center-field wall at Coors Field on Monday night, robbing Jake McCarthy of a walk-off two-run homer and sealing a 2-1 Baltimore Orioles win over the Colorado Rockies. The play ended a rain-delayed game that went down to the final out and lifted the Orioles to 69-69—their first.500 record since April 30.
The last time Baltimore stood at even was 15-15 in a doubleheader against Houston. In the months between, the Orioles dropped as low as nine games below.500, sitting at 39-48 on June 30 and again at 42-51 on July 8. The turnaround back to level is real—eight wins in their last 10 games.
The win put Baltimore a half-game behind the Cleveland Guardians (69-68) for the third American League Wild Card spot. The Guardians were idle Monday. The final month of the regular season just became meaningful again in Baltimore.
The game was tied 1-1 through five innings before a thunderstorm forced a one-hour, 38-minute delay. Colorado scored first on a two-out RBI single by Jordan Beck in the bottom of the fourth. Baltimore answered in the top of the fifth when Dylan Beavers and Samuel Basallo hit back-to-back doubles to tie it.
Starter Cade Povich went five innings and allowed one run. After the delay, a four-man relief group shut Colorado out. Grant Wolfram threw two innings, Alex Hoppe threw one-third, Rico Garcia threw two-thirds, and Andrew Kittredge closed the ninth. Kittredge's save was his ninth of the year, a career high.
The Orioles scored the winning run in the seventh without a hit. Baltimore loaded the bases on three straight walks with one out. Coby Mayo scored from third when Cowser hit a grounder and was ruled safe on a fielder's choice. The initial call was out, which would have ended the inning as a double play, but replay review overturned it. Baltimore led 2-1.
In the ninth, with the Orioles holding a one-run lead, McCarthy connected on what looked like a walk-off home run to center. Cowser tracked it to the wall and jumped, pulling the ball back from over the fence. The game was over.
Baltimore is in the middle of a three-city, nine-game road trip. They went 2-1 against the Cardinals (68-70) and swept three games from the Athletics (53-85) before arriving in Denver. The Rockies entered Monday at 52-86. The Orioles are taking care of weaker opponents—two of three in St. Louis, a sweep in Oakland, and an early lead in Denver.
Povich gave them five innings of one-run baseball. The bullpen quartet gave them four shutout frames. Mayo got into scoring position from third. Cowser drove in the go-ahead run before making the catch. None of it works without the other.
Baltimore has two more games in Denver to finish the road trip. The Guardians aren't running away at 69-68. The AL Wild Card race has compressed, and September starts with Baltimore positioned to play games that count.
