Baltimore Orioles left fielder Colton Cowser had a huge moment to forget during the 5th inning of Wednesday’s crucial Game 2 in the American League Wild Card series against the Kansas City Royals.
The Orioles’ struggling offense had scored its first run of the series earlier in the inning on a Cedric Mullins home run, then staged a more sustained rally to load the bases with one out. Cowser had the opportunity to deliver a huge hit for the team, and even a sacrifice fly would have given Baltimore its first lead of the series.
Cowser, however, was clearly not seeing Royals lefty reliever Angel Zerpa well. After falling behind 1-2 in the count, Cowser was completely flummoxed by a sinker up and in. Cowser was thrown off so badly that he wound up swinging at the pitch, even though it ultimately hit him on the hand.
Colton Cowser struck out with the bases loaded on a pitch that hit him pic.twitter.com/LHZHX7emRK
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) October 2, 2024
Instant replay made it clear the ball hit Cowser in the hand. Had it hit the bat, he would have at least stayed alive on a foul ball. Instead, this registered as a strikeout, as the fact that Cowser swung at the pitch took priority over it actually hitting him.
The Orioles failed to score during the inning, and the Royals went on to reclaim the lead in the top of the 6th. Cowser, meanwhile, was in serious pain, and while he remained in the game for the 6th inning, he was replaced by Heston Kjerstad for the 7th.
If one play sums up the Orioles’ recent struggles, it is probably this one. They lost Game 1 by a score of 1-0, and their offense scuffled for much of the second half of the season. Things were so bad that one of the additions they made at the trade deadline to try to bolster the offense wound up getting sent to the minors. That has carried over to the postseason, as Cowser looked like he was trying way too hard to make something happen here.
