The outfielder goes yard to extend his hitting streak to six as Baltimore pushes for the postseason.
Colton Cowser didn't seem particularly impressed with his 13th home run of the season. He actually thought it was gone by a lot more than it was.
"I hit that one better, and I assumed that I was going out and barely got out," Cowser said postgame, via MASN.
The ball still cleared the wall. More importantly for the Baltimore Orioles, it came during another game in which Cowser found a way to affect the outcome.
Cowser finished 1-for-4 with two runs scored in Saturday’s 5-3 win over the Athletics, adding to a stretch that has given the Orioles more from him at the plate. Over his last 17 games, he is 15-for-44 with five home runs and eight RBIs, a .341 average that has helped change the feel around his season.
His overall numbers still show how much work remains. Cowser is hitting .228 with a .709 OPS and 36 RBIs, but the recent production has started to pull those figures in the right direction. More importantly, his at-bats have looked like the ones Baltimore expected when it counted on him to become a regular part of the lineup.
Even the home run itself came with a little disbelief from Cowser. He thought he had hit it well enough to send it much farther, only to watch it barely clear the wall.
“I hit that one better, and I assumed that I was going out and barely got out,” Cowser said.
The result mattered more than the distance. It gave Baltimore another run in a game that eventually became uncomfortable, and Cowser scored again later in the night.
His approach to the standings sounded similar. The Orioles entered Sunday one game behind the final AL Wild Card spot, but Cowser said the team is not allowing that chase to dictate its daily routine.
“We’re just showing up every day and just trying to compete and put up the best effort we can,” Cowser said. “Winning baseball cures everything.”
That is easier to say when the team is actually winning.
Saturday marked Baltimore's third straight series victory, and Cowser's recent production has arrived at a useful time as the Orioles continue trying to climb back into the postseason picture.
Even his home run wasn't the only way he helped.
Cowser reached base and scored again later in the game, giving Baltimore another insurance run in a night when the bullpen repeatedly had to work out of trouble. Orioles manager Craig Albernaz called the ninth-inning sequence involving Cowser's run "chaos," via MASN. But he also pointed out that Cowser had a great night and that the insurance run ended up being huge.
For an Orioles team trying to stay within striking distance, those contributions matter.
Cowser doesn't have to carry the lineup. He just has to keep giving Baltimore reasons to put him in the middle of it.
Right now, he's doing that more often than he was a month ago.
And if the Orioles really are going to make a run at the postseason, this version of Cowser could end up being one of the reasons they have a chance.
