Fountain of youth
Cowser’s homer a splash hit for Orioles in first shutout; Irvin throws 6 2/3 scoreless innings
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Colton Cowser made two splashes in the fountains at Kauffman Stadium this weekend.
The first came Saturday night when he caught the last out of Craig Kimbrel’s 422nd career save and flung the ball into the fountain.
The second was when he clobbered a 430-foot home run into the well to propel the Orioles to a 5-0 win over the host Royals on Sunday afternoon.
“We prefer him hitting one into the fountain instead of throwing one into the fountain,” manager Brandon Hyde said.
It was poetic irony for Cowser to homer into the right-center field fountain less than 16 hours after he hilariously “yeeted” Kimbrel’s ball — the last out of his save that tied him with Billy Wagner for seventh on MLB’s all-time list — into the left-center field fountain.
But neither splash was surprising.
Cowser’s free-spirited, goofy personality made him the most likely member of the Orioles to commit such a blunder, which Kimbrel said he found funny once the ball was found. The 24-yearold outfield prospect’s talent and hot start to the season also mean it’s no surprise one of his long balls took a swim.
“Hopefully they keep that one down there,” Cowser joked. “That one deserves to stay down there after what happened yesterday.”
Cowser’s solo shot in the third was immediately followed by a 433-foot big fly from Jordan Westburg — the club’s first backto-back homers this season. The early offense was all Baltimore’s pitching staff needed, as Cole Irvin delivered his best start as an Oriole with 6 scoreless innings and the bullpen bounced back after consecutive rough nights. The shutout win is the Orioles’ first this season after doing so 12 times last year.
After losing the first contest of the series to end a four-game winning streak, the Orioles took the final two against the pesky, up-and-coming Royals (13-9). Baltimore is 14-7 and only a half-game back of the New York Yankees, who sped out to a scorching-hot start to the season, for first place in the American League East.
AfterCowserflungtheballintothe fountain Saturday, it was retrieved by a Kauffman Stadium employee. Cowserrealizedalmostimmediately that he “messed up,” he said during a comical postgame interview with teammates Jackson Holliday and Gunnar Henderson teasing him.
“I still feel terrible about what happened yesterday. I’ve apologized to Craig so much,” Cowser said when asked about the coincidence of his fountain homer. “But, yeah, it’s kind of funny.”
Kimbrel said Sunday morning he could tell Cowser was “distraught” about the mistake, with the veteran closer telling him not to “lose sleep over it.” The ball was placed in a container of rice in Kimbrel’s locker to help it dry.
“That’s fun, huh?” Kimbrel said with a smile. “We’ll see what the authenticators think when we talk to them.”
Cowser promised to keep every future final out from Kimbrel in his glove, but the 35-year-old closer wasn’t needed to slam the door Sunday.
Irvin, who entered with a 6.75 ERA from his first three starts, was excellent throughout, looking like the pitcher he was for much of last summer and the one the Orioles hoped they were getting when they traded infield prospect Darell Hernaiz to the Oakland Athletics to acquire Irvin in January 2023. He pounded the zone and kept the ball down, allowing just four hits and working around two walks for his longest start since September 2022 with the Athletics.
“That’s definitely the best start he’s had since we got him last year,” Hyde said. “Just the way he changed speeds, moved the ball around, pitched to contact. We played well defensively behind him. It was working ahead in the count. For me, that was probably his best changeup since he’s been here. It was a start we needed.”
The 30-year-old left-hander bounced between Triple-A, Baltimore’s bullpen and the rotation last season, but no start was as sharp as Sunday’s gem. The only other scoreless start Irvin twirled as an Oriole came across five innings against the Seattle Mariners in August.
Irvin was an innings-eater with the Athletics, but he’s rarely pitched well enough to go deep into games with Baltimore.
“Refreshing,” he said of pitching into the seventh inning. “It’s nice. I knowI’mcapableofdoingthatevery timeIgoout.It’srefreshingtobeable to … get deep into that ballgame.”
Jacob Webb, Danny Coulombe and Dillon Tate followed Irvin with scoreless outings for much-needed relief after the bullpen allowed 10 runs over the first two games of the series, including six in Friday’s loss. Themostcrucialoutswererecorded by Danny Coulombe, who relieved Webb in the eighth and struck out SalvadorPerezandNelsonVelázquez to strand runners on the corners.
“It was nice to see the bullpen lock it down there,” Hyde said. “We’ve got some guys kind of going in and out rightnowalittlebit,tryingtofindthe right spots for guys and trying to get some guys some confidence.”
The Orioles’ early lead came off right-hander Seth Lugo, who entered with a 3-0 record, a 1.05 ERA and zero homers allowed. But Cowser and Westburg both barreled fastballs from Lugo and deposited them well over the outfield wall.
“Those were loud, too,” Hyde said of the two youngsters’ homers. “Both swung the bat extremely well, got on Lugo’s heater there. Westy is just playing really good baseball right now, took a big-time walk there for us. And Colton is swinging the bat great. Really happy for those guys.”
Cowser and Westburg, the Nos. 7 and 8 hitters in Baltimore’s order, have been perhaps the Orioles’ two best hitters this season. Cowser is hitting .371 with a 1.195 OPS — the highest on the team — and five home runs as he’s spent April breaking out. Westburg is hitting .333 with a 1.031 OPS, five home runs and 18 RBIs in his first opportunity as an everyday player.
The Orioles added two insurance runs in the sixth and another in the ninth. Ryan Mountcastle doubled home Anthony Santander, who reached on a triple, to put Baltimore up3-0.Westburgthenwalkedinarun to bring up Holliday with the bases loaded, but the slumping youngster struck out looking on a fastball down the middle. Ramón Urías continued his recent success at the plate with a pinch-hit single in the ninth to score Gunnar Henderson.
The series win is the Orioles’ fifth out of seven this season, and second against Kansas City after taking two of three from the Royals earlier this month. Baltimore travels to Anaheim for a three-game series against the Los Angeles Angels starting Monday night.
Around the horn
The Orioles are altering their rotation for their upcoming series against the Los Angeles Angels. Grayson Rodriguez was pushed back one day to start Tuesday, with Albert Suárez moving up to start Monday’s series opener. Hyde said the move was made to give Rodriguez a little extra rest and have Suárez start on regular rest. The switch will likely mean Rodriguez’s next start after Tuesday will come against the New York Yankees rather than the Oakland Athletics.
Austin Hays, who exited Saturday’s win with calf soreness, was not available to play Sunday, Hyde said after the game. “The calf is sore,” Hyde said. “We’re going to kind of see how he is tomorrow.”
In the second start of his minor league rehabilitation assignment, right-hander Kyle Bradish (sprained ulnar collateral ligament) allowed four runs in 3 innings Sunday for Triple-A Norfolk. He threw 64 pitches as he works to make his way back to Baltimore, likely in the first half of May.