Orioles’ Colton Cowser hits walk-off home run in Game 1 as Orioles split with Tigers

For as fun as the ending to the first game of this Sunday doubleheader was, the concerning nature of left-hander Trevor Rogers’ recent performances dampens what otherwise was a stabilizing series.

The Orioles maneuvered rain throughout the weekend to take two of three games against the Detroit Tigers, and outfielder Colton Cowser’s walk-off, three-run home run in the first game Sunday was the sort of heroics necessary for Baltimore to secure the series.

But, with Rogers on the mound in the nightcap, progress took him only so far. The southpaw said this was a step in the right direction, but he still allowed four runs in 4 2/3 innings and struggled at times with command.

“This past month we’ve kind of took a couple steps back, and it’s like, OK, what can I really improve on?” Rogers said. “And I think my command on the inside part of the plate has been terrible up to this point, and that was probably my main focus this outing, command the inside part of the plate, get them to start looking inside so it opens up away. I think I did an OK job of that.”

Regression was expected. Rogers pitched to a 1.81 ERA in 18 starts last year. To repeat that would’ve been difficult at best. But Rogers now carries a 6.96 ERA, although he’s far from the only reason the Orioles have the highest rotation ERA among American League teams.

Rogers has no options remaining, so a minor league stint isn’t possible. Could he move to the bullpen momentarily?

There is no easy answer. The short-term view, however, can be limited to the results of this series. Baltimore (23-30) avoided a free fall by taking two of three games against another AL struggler — the first a 5-3 win, the next a 4-1 loss.

“Forgive me for saying this, but we hit a lot of balls hard enough,” manager Craig Albernaz said of the offensive approach. “On the barrel. And that’s all you can do is try to get barrel to baseball and see what happens, and our guys put a lot of good swings on the ball tonight.”

Before Rogers took the mound, right-hander Brandon Young pitched a gem in the opener. He allowed two unearned runs in 6 2/3 innings.

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 (Rogers, Chris Bassitt, Kyle Bradish and Shane Baz), and only Bradish (4.13) is close to Young’s mark.

A change in splitter grips helped his outing. Young said he adopted a new grip three days ago, using one similar to right-hander Nathan Eovaldi’s splitter. In doing so, he reduced the velocity on that pitch and increased the depth. It was almost 5 mph slower on average than his typical splitter.

“Credit to our pitching staff for coming up to me and being honest and saying, ‘Hey, let’s try something different. Let’s try and knock some velo off,’” Young said. “And it helped.”

Young was almost flawless, and he deserved the standing ovation he received as he left in the seventh inning after a career-high 105 pitches. Beyond the two unearned runs, he 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 until late.

Those two unearned runs against Young came after a fourth-inning miscue from first baseman Pete Alonso. With a runner on first, Alonso let a softly hit pop-up 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 — or would have at least let the Orioles swap a fast runner for a slower one.

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.

“I knew what he was trying to do,” Albernaz said. “We talked about it after it happened. It’s just not the ideal ball to do it on, even if it’s, like, hit soft like that. The ideal ball is the pop-up straight up that comes straight down, because when the ball hits, it’ll stay. But that one, when it comes more on a line, the spin is going to mess up and it’s going to kick more, and that’s what ended up happening.”

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.

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 almost cost the Orioles the game until shortstop Gunnar Henderson broke through against Valdez with a solo homer in the sixth.

The Tigers’ lead grew against left-hander Keegan Akin, 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 put two runners in scoring position with two outs, Cowser finished the deal. He 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.

Cowser entered Sunday with a .193 average and .530 on-base-plus-slugging percentage. None of that mattered once he throttled a pitch from right-hander Kenley Jansen.

Beyond the way his clutch homer pushed the Orioles to a victory, it was cathartic proof of concept for a player who has been “working his butt off,” Albernaz said.

“I’ve been grinding to feel pretty good,” Cowser said. “And it feels like the past couple weeks I’ve been putting together some quality at-bats and just doing what I can, controlling the controllables. And for some results to show up, yeah, it’s great. But I’m more proud of myself and the work that’s been putting in and the approach and the mindset.”

Cowser is seeing the benefits of that work. At the time, that was his fifth hit in his last six games, including two homers. His bomb in the first game Sunday marked his first career walk-off hit.

“It’s just a good feeling coming through for the team,” he said.

Rogers, meanwhile, is experiencing the gut-wrenching nature of failure at this level. After his last start against the Tampa Bay Rays, he was emotional discussing how he wasn’t performing to his standard. His pure stat line looked better Sunday, with four runs off him in 4 2/3 innings, but there were still too many uncompetitive pitches.

“Always something mechanical where like the big misses, like how you move down the mountain, your body influences the flight of the ball,” Albernaz said. ”But there’s also some misses that are on purpose, too. Like if you’re gonna miss with your location, where do you want to miss? Out over the plate or outside the strike zone? But usually it’s something mechanical going down the mound.”

Rogers, never one to force many whiffs, generated just five. More worrisome, though, is the continuation of a fly ball trend. His ground ball rate is the lowest it has been in his career.

Dillon Dingler powered one of those fly balls for a two-run homer in the first inning. And while Rogers went on to retire the next 11 batters, the fifth inning proved problematic. Two more runs scored before Albernaz lifted him at 90 pitches.

Right-hander Andrew Kittredge stranded inherited runners, and right-hander Albert Suárez provided four scoreless innings. That kept the Orioles within reach. But there wasn’t more bottom-ninth magic in the nightcap, which allowed the Tigers to break their eight-game losing streak.

This article has been updated.