Colton Cowser's catch of the year has Orioles feeling like a team of destiny

Ten days ago, the Baltimore Orioles were 61-67, and the playoffs were more of a dream than a reality. Then, they went 8-2, claiming two series from the best team in the American League (the division-rival Rays), grabbing two on the road in St. Louis, sweeping the A's in Sacramento, and then stealing the first game of three on Monday night in Colorado.

Stealing is the correct word for last night's win, too. It was the bottom of the ninth, with two outs, a runner on second, and the O's leading 2-1. Jake McCarthy launched one to center field off Andrew Kittredge. Colton Coswer tracked back, jumped, and perfectly timed his home run robbery, turning a walk-off home run into a game-ending catch. It has to be the catch of the year.

According to OptaStats, the home run would have been 425 feet, making it "the longest distance of a game-ending robbery of a potential walkoff HR in MLB's wild card era (since 1995)."

The magical wins are starting to pile up for this O's team. Last night was also the third time in the last 10 games they came back or took the lead in the sixth inning or later.

Orioles now a half-game back of the Guardians for final AL Wild Card spot

At the end of trade deadline day, Baltimore was 54-58, only 2.5 games back of the final wild card spot, but had four teams between them and Cleveland, who were the final team in. A little less than a month later, the O's have gotten themselves to .500 (69-69) for the first time since April 1, and are just 0.5 games behind Cleveland. They've gotten hot at the right time.

In this 10-game stretch, Cowser, Dylan Beavers, Coby Mayo, Gunnar Henderson, Christian Encarnacion-Strand, and Pete Alonso have a 130 or higher WRC+, while Baltimore's bullpen has a 0.81 ERA.

When the O's sold at the trade deadline, it felt like 2026 had become a lost season. They moved their former No. 1 overall pick, star catcher Adley Rutschman, traded away one of their better starting pitcher in Dean Kremer, and didn't make any moves to supplement the roster. Now, they are in the thick of it.

They picked up Luis Robert Jr off waivers as a low-risk, high-reward play for the final month. The entire team is firing on all cylinders, and plays like last night's game-saving robbery only happen to teams that have a little magic in the air. Could the O's make a special push? We'll know in about four weeks' time.

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