TAMPA, Fla. — When Colton Cowser was on the injured list for the first two months of the season, the gaping hole he left in the outfield was blatantly clear.
As other outfield injuries piled up, and infielders Jorge Mateo and Ryan O’Hearn had to play in their spots, Cowser’s services were duly missed.
But perhaps his offensive skills were just as crucial to this team as his defense. Because now, in his third week back, Cowser’s bat is heating up. And on Thursday, with the Orioles in desperate need of an easy win after Wednesday’s catastrophic collapse, Cowser pulled through, homering for the third night in a row as the Orioles beat the Rays 4-1.
Baltimore is leaving Tampa with a series split and 10 games under .500 as it heads to New York to face the American League East-leading Yankees.
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It wasn’t just the fact that Cowser hit another missile; it was the timing. The Orioles were tied with the Rays 1-1 at the time but were wasting opportunities, especially in the fifth when they left Cowser on second after his leadoff double and Cedric Mullins on first.
So in the sixth, with starter Charlie Morton’s pitch count rising and the bullpen taxed after the night prior, the Orioles needed a momentum switch.
Enter Cowser, again.
With Gunnar Henderson on second and Rámon Laureano on first, Cowser sent the ball over the right-center-field fence to give the Orioles the lead. Cowser has an OPS of .914 since returning from the injured list.
In the seventh, the game was paused briefly after Adley Rutschman lined a foul ball into the Rays dugout, hitting reliever Hunter Bigge, who is on the injured list with a lat strain. The Rays’ athletic trainer immediately called for additional medical personnel, and Bigge was put on a stretcher. He gave a thumb’s-up as he was carted off the field.
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Rays broadcaster Ryan Bass tweeted that Bigge “was struck on the side of the face with that 105 mph line drive, but never lost consciousness. He can see out of both eyes, and continues to be evaluated at a local hospital.”
When the game resumed, Rutschman walked and Laureano singled an inning later, but the Orioles would not plate any more runs.
Morton, meanwhile, gave the Orioles what they needed most: length. Baltimore used five relievers on Wednesday, and two of them covered more than one inning. So the Orioles really needed Morton to eat innings, but he did even more. He allowed just one run, his curveball shining in six innings of work.
Seranthony Domínguez, who was one of two Orioles pitchers who didn’t contribute to the collapse Wednesday, took over in the seventh. He struggled at the start, walking a batter and giving up a base hit. A wild pitch allowed both runners to advance, but he got out of the inning without any damage, holding his glove up to the sky as he walked off the mound.
The Orioles’ bullpen again ran into trouble in the eighth, Gregory Soto letting two on and Bryan Baker coming in and walking the first batter he saw. Baker recovered, getting Jake Mangum to fly out to end the inning.
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Félix Bautista got the save.
This article will be updated.