If Albert Suarez of the Baltimore Orioles isn’t a candidate for comeback player of the year, he should be. His outings aren’t perfect. But he’s always stepped up when he‘s been needed / including this afternoon against Houston. Suarez’s line: 5.2 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 3 K.
Suarez made one bad pitch, and it came on the first at-bat of the game on a 1-0 count. Altuve hit it into the stands for a solo home run, and the Orioles trailed 1-0. He also gave up a solo shot in the sixth to Pena that was down and in. Pena just went down and got it.
The story through the first five inning for the Orioles was the fact that they couldn’t get on base. And when they did, they couldn’t get the runner home. But that changed, as Brandon Hyde channeled his 2023 self and pushed all the right buttons.
With two outs and two on in the last of the sixth, Colton Cowser rolled over a dribbler on the right side of the infield. He noticed that the first baseman was a step slow in covering the bag. So he went into a headfirst slide into first base – and beat the throw, loading the bases.
Emmanuel Rivera was next in the order, but Hyde pinch-hit Jackson Holliday off the bench. Which worked like a charm. Holliday swung on the first pitch, and lined a bases-clearing double to right center. Colton Cowser got a great read on the ball, not only scoring from first, but doing it standing up. And the Orioles led 3-2.
That moment is what people will remember from this game. And only baseball could lend itself to a moment like that today, coming off the Anthony Santander grand slam last night. However make no mistake that Colton Cowser created that moment.
That headfirst slide into first base isn’t something you normally see. But it was a live or die moment, and Cowser chose life in a sense. It’s that sort of hustle that can make all the difference in a season. Needless to say, it mattered big time today.
The series concludes tomorrow evening before a national television audience at Camden Yards. Dean Kremer gets the start for the Birds, and he’ll be opposed by Houston’s Yusei Kikuchi. Game time is set for just after 7 PM.
Birdland Crush 