Orioles’ Colton Cowser hits walk-off home run in Game 1 of doubleheader vs. Tigers

Colton Cowser was met with Gatorade and a throng of bodies at home plate.

The Orioles outfielder, who hasn’t enjoyed the best start to 2026, had just launched a game-winning three-run home run. With mayhem all around him, Cowser sloshed in the standing water around the plate — a 5-3 win in Game 1 of Sunday’s doubleheader over the Detroit Tigers firmly his doing.

Cowser entered Sunday with a .193 average and .530 on-base-plus-slugging percentage. None of that mattered once Cowser throttled a pitch from right-hander Kenley Jansen to provide Baltimore a 5-3 victory. He helped overcome a lackadaisical offensive effort and covered for a costly error in the fourth inning.

If it had worked, Pete Alonso may have been praised for his heads-up defensive play in the fourth. It did not work, though, and the resulting error from the Orioles first baseman Pete Alonso wound up as a critical blunder that almost cost the game had Cowser not driven a ball over the fence with two outs.

With a runner on first, Alonso let the softly hit popup fall in front of him in the infield. The tactic, if done correctly, might’ve led to a double play — throwing to second or tagging the runner before stepping on first. But Alonso couldn’t corral the ball once it landed in the dirt. It spun away from him. And, after he reached it on his knees, his throw to second was short and Jeremiah Jackson couldn’t pick it.

Instead of one out — let alone two — the Orioles managed zero.

The subsequent two runs against right-hander Brandon Young that inning were unearned. Before the game, infield coach Miguel Cairo rightfully lauded the work Alonso has done this season. The first baseman has never graded well at the position, according to advanced defensive metrics, but he has shown steadier play since arriving with the Orioles (22-30).

One change, Cairo said, is for Alonso to begin in a more athletic position before the pitch is thrown. He was too crouched before, Cairo said, and the tension in his body didn’t allow him to move as fluidly as they’d like.

What occurred in the fourth inning, however, will not be on Alonso’s best-of playlist. It was partially to blame for the blemish on Young’s line.

Still, Young became the first Oriole this year to pitch at least 24 innings while maintaining an ERA under 4.00 (3.47). Four others have surpassed that innings load (Trevor Rogers, Chris Bassitt, Kyle Bradish and Shane Baz), and only Bradish is close to Young’s mark (4.13).

Young was almost flawless in 6 2/3 innings, and he deserved the standing ovation he received as he left the mound in the seventh inning after a career-high 105 pitches. Beyond the two unearned runs, Young allowed two walks and five hits. He kept the Orioles in this game against left-hander Framber Valdez, but Young was left stranded by an offense that didn’t turn hard contact into results.

Gunnar Henderson changed that in the sixth inning. Valdez hung a first-pitch breaking ball, and Henderson lifted it over the right field wall to halve the deficit.

The Tigers’ lead grew against left-hander Keegan Akin again, however, in the eighth. Akin, who now holds a 12.66 ERA, allowed a leadoff walk. A bloop single to right field and an infield single toward first base brought home the run.

And, even though Taylor Ward’s single in the bottom half of the frame scored Jackson, the Orioles stranded two runners at a moment when a clutch hit would have at least tied it. Adley Rutschman and Alonso flied out and popped out, respectively.

Cowser made up for that missed chance, though. After Jackson Holliday and Leody Taveras walked and stole bases to reach scoring position with two outs, Cowser finished the deal.