BOSTON — After falling behind early in all three games of their midweek series against the Boston Red Sox, the Orioles completed the comeback for the third straight day to win 9-4 in 10 innings Thursday night behind left fielder Colton Cowser’s first two career home runs.
The Orioles trailed 1-0 on Tuesday, 5-0 on Wednesday and 2-0 in their finale and climbed back into the game each time. Right fielder Anthony Santander gave the Orioles a 3-2 lead in the eighth Thursday with a two-run homer, but setup man Danny Coulombe gave up the lead on a solo shot by pinch-hitter Connor Wong in the bottom half of the frame.
Shortstop Gunnar Henderson, who was 0-for-4 with three strikeouts before the game went to extras, came through with the Orioles’ latest clutch swing, taking Red Sox right-hander Isaiah Campbell deep over the Green Monster in left for his third home run of the season. After an RBI single by Cedric Mullins, Cowser launched a three-run shot to right as Baltimore broke the game open with a six-run frame to pick up a sweep of its American League East rivals in Boston’s home-opening series.
“I’m not looking for statements, honestly,” manager Brandon Hyde said of the message Baltimore’s sweep sends to the rest of the league. “I just want us to play good baseball no matter who we’re playing and happy with going 4-2 on the trip. Could have won a couple more games at Pittsburgh, so I feel really good about a winning road trip. You definitely want to play with division well and we did that this series.”
Cowser finished the series 6-for-13 (.462) with 10 RBIs, starting all three games after spending the Orioles’ first three series as a platoon hitter and defensive replacement. The 2021 fifth overall draft pick made the Orioles’ roster out of camp and has gotten off to a scorching hot start; he ended the day hitting .458 with a 1.379 OPS in 11 games this season. With five extra-base hits and his 10 RBIs in the series, he became the first Orioles hitter to compile those numbers in any three-game span since Chris Davis in 2013. He’s the youngest Oriole to do it since Boog Powell in 1966.
“As soon as Jackson [Holliday] got called up, I was messing around and I was like, ‘If Jackson hits a home run before me, I’m going to be pretty upset,’” Cowser said after entering the game with zero home runs in 36 career games. “But I know his is coming soon. Yeah, I was trying to keep it under 100 at-bats.”
Second baseman Holliday, playing the second game of his career after going 0-for-4 in his MLB debut Wednesday, went 0-for-4 again but reached on an error and scored two runs, including the go-ahead run as the automatic runner in the 10th.
The Orioles (8-4) enjoyed a strong start by Grayson Rodriguez, who allowed two runs in 5 2/3 innings on 94 pitches (61 strikes). He wasn’t sharp to open the game, laboring through a 20-pitch first inning and allowing doubles to center fielder Jarren Duran, first baseman Triston Casas and right fielder Wilyer Abreu. Though Casas’ double was a catchable fly ball Santander couldn’t track down before it bounced out of play, Rodriguez struggled to hit his spots as the Red Sox jumped out to a 2-0 lead.
But he settled in from there, battling rain and cold temperatures to scatter three hits the rest of the way before Hyde pulled him in favor of right-handed reliever Jacob Webb with two outs in the sixth. Rodriguez finished with five strikeouts to push his season total to 21, surpassing ace Corbin Burnes (20) for the most on the team thus far.
“Just being able to establish command,” Rodriguez, a Texas native, said of the obstacles of playing in cold weather. “I think the big thing obviously, the balls are a little slick so it’s kind of hard, especially in the cold, but really just trying to be in the strike zone, I think, is the biggest challenge.”
Webb recorded four consecutive outs to send the game to Coulombe, who had yet to allow a run through five appearances this season. The left-hander sat down the first two batters he faced before Red Sox manager Alex Cora pinch-hit Wong for Abreu to get the platoon advantage. Coulombe was one strike away from getting through the inning before Wong took him deep over the Green Monster in left.
Yennier Cano and Craig Kimbrel then combined to retire four straight hitters to send the game to extra innings. After the Orioles’ 10th-inning barrage, right-hander Mike Baumann allowed one unearned run on a double by Duran before closing out yet another comeback win for Baltimore.
“I feel like we just all buy in together,” Henderson said of the Orioles continuing to put together late rallies. “Really just embrace it, pass the baton and just try to pick up the next guy if they don’t get it done. So, that’s been our M.O. since last year and we’re just continuing that into this year.”
Brewers at Orioles
Friday, 7:05 p.m.
Stream: Apple TV+
Radio: 97.9 FM, 101.5 FM, 1090 AM
