Improbable Walk-off Homer Clinches Winning Series For Orioles Over Tigers

Colton Cowser, who had to be wondering about the next transaction the Orioles make in a season loaded with them consisted of him going back to AAA, delivered his biggest hit in a long time Sunday afternoon.

With Tigers future Hall of Fame closer Kenley Jansen struggling to locate anything, and two men on base and the Orioles down a run, Cowser crushed a walk-off, three run homer with two-outs to deliver a 5-3 victory over a Detroit team that simply cannot win. Starting pitcher Brandon Young was excellent through 6 2/3 innings, and the Orioles overcame some bad-luck base hits that expanded the Tigers lead to 3-1 in the 8th inning

“Just trying to put the bat on the ball,” Cowser said on the MASN broadcast after the game, “and see what can happen.” At the end of the interview the struggling outfielder, a former top-five pick relegated to sporadic duty lately, sprinkled in “’I’m just very thankful to be here.”

Manager Craig Albernaz said: “It’s just awesome to see that happen for him. He’s been actively working his butt off … to get back to being him.”

Cowser struggles with changeups and breaking balls but can smash velocity and he was all over a 95 mph sinker to deliver it 440 feet. Jansen could not locate either that or his cutter, falling behind and issuing walks, as the Tigers lost for the 16th time in their last 18 games.

The Orioles did not bat with a runner on second base until the eighth inning, but got the job done against Detroit’s bullpen in late fashion, which has been their norm. Hitting starting pitching has been a problem, especially left-handed pitching, and Framber Valdez dominated them for six innings Sunday in the first game of a double header.

Baltimore was linked to Valdez through the offseason, though that was mostly the media peddling false hope from baseball exec Mike Elias who builds rotations almost always without an ace. And while the Orioles improved to 4-11 vs lefties, that had nothing to do with Valdez today, who gave up just two hits.

The Orioles entered this game batting .216 vs lefties in the first five innings of games (23rd) and was 18th in OPS vs lefties in those innings (.678) and 18th in slug. They ranked 27th in line drive rate in those splits and 20th in hard hit rate. Despite walking a ton vs lefty starters they cannot generate sufficient runs. A Gunnar Henderson solo shot was all they mustered off Valdez

Stacking A Claim In The Rotation

Young was just as good as Valdez, allowing two unearned runs when a bad throw by Pete Alonso to try to start a double play resulted in everyone being safe. Detroit used sacrifices to plate both runners and they scored again in the eight on some bloops and lucky infield hits, but their offense, bottom three in MLB and averaging less than three runs a game over the last three weeks, couldn’t expand the lead.

With this rotation in tatters, Young continues to make a strong case to stay in it.

Elias is capable to ridiculousness at any time, but after not allowing an earned run over 6 2/3 innings and lowering his ERA to 3.47, Young should keep going every five days even when Dean Kremer returns from the IL. Young got ahead of the Tigers with regularity early on and has really only had one bad outing, against Houston, a team he’s faced the most.

“He was pounding the strike zone, it was awesome,” Albernaz said.

Bird Seed

Infielder Coby Mayo was a late scratch with back stiffness, yet another instance of the Orioles having to change their lineup late ... Tyler O'Neill continues to get regular playing time desspite being brutal in the outfielder and at the plate. Albernaz claimed he's "closer" than even O'Neill thinks he is to contributing ... The second game begins at 6pm .

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