DENVER — By the time the rain ceased and the thunder quieted, the lower bowl at Coors Field was sparsely filled with fans. But behind the visiting dugout on Monday night was a healthy Orioles contingent — their orange sticking out, their voices mingling with the audible excitement stemming from Baltimore’s dugout.
Those fans had to wait through a delay that lasted more than an hour, and it was worth it. For what they saw Monday night was their team reaching .500 for the first time since April.
In all the months that have followed, with a nadir of nine games under .500 arriving in early July, Baltimore has clawed back to this point. And with a 2-1 victory against the Colorado Rockies, the Orioles move within half a game of the final American League wild-card spot.
An amazing quality of a 162-game baseball season is how it can all come down to the final handful of series. The Orioles have 24 games remaining. They find themselves, improbably, in the thick of a postseason chase that has been made possible through the mediocrity of the American League.
And in the late-night hours of the Mountain West, the Orioles (69-69) did enough to beat one of baseball’s bottom dwellers.
They needed center fielder Colton Cowser to make one of the best catches of his life. With two outs in the ninth inning, Cowser raced back to the fence, leaped and robbed Jake McCarthy of a walk-off homer.
Left-hander Cade Povich, activated Monday afternoon to start that night, maneuvered around three walks and five hits to supply five innings with only one run against him. His evening concluded when the rain began to fall. And after a lengthy break, the Orioles’ relievers kept the score right there.
The most impactful spot came in the eighth inning, when right-hander Rico Garcia entered with two runners on and one out. In 2019, Garcia made his major league debut here for the Rockies. The next half decade led Garcia on a circuitous journey of injuries, waivers and minor league assignments.
He struggled in Sacramento over the weekend, allowing four hits and one walk in two appearances. But with his parents in Denver from Hawaii to see him in person, Garcia struck out Willi Castro on three pitches to begin his outing Monday, and he followed it with a flyout from Mickey Moniak.
Right-hander Andrew Kittredge then dealt with ninth-inning pressure once Troy Johnston lofted a one-out double down the left-field line. Kittredge closed it out, however, by striking out pinch hitter Zac Veen and relying on Cowser’s insane catch.
Despite this being a park where the ball flies, the Orioles had a quiet night offensively. They tied the game shortly after one run crossed against Povich via consecutive doubles from Dylan Beavers and Samuel Basallo.
And after the delay, they managed another but missed out on a chance to break the game open. To begin the seventh inning, Mark Manfredi and Nick Frasso issued walks to three of the first four batters to load the bases.
Cowser nearly grounded into an inning-ending double play. Instead, second baseman Connor Norby’s backhand flip to second base was slow, which allowed Cowser to beat out the relay throw to first base. The fielder’s choice gave the Orioles a lead.
They held on, with Garcia stranding a pair and Kittredge stranding another. But hold on, they did. And now the Orioles are back to .500.
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