Big hits, Cowser's sprint speed, scoreless 'pen work as O's pick up two huge wins

The Orioles' last two wins were not just comeback wins over an American League division leader, but they were impressive because of the team and pitchers they beat.

Consider that:

* After beating the Orioles 6-0 Thursday, Houston was 4-0 this year over the Orioles by a combined 33-13 score. They were 9-3 their past 12 against the Orioles.

* On Friday the Orioles won a game started by right-hander Hunter Brown, who had a 1.96 ERA in August, a 2.36 ERA since July 12 and the AL’s best ERA since June 1 at 2.33. On Saturday they won a game started by left-hander Framber Valdez, a pitcher in the top 11 for the AL Cy Young Award three times in his career. Houston had won 10 Valdez starts in a row since they lost to the White Sox, of all teams, June 18. Valdez was 8-0 with a 2.39 ERA those past 10 starts. The O’s didn’t exactly light up either pitcher but they won those games against a hot team starting its hottest starters.

* Through Thursday’s win, Houston was 12-3 over the previous 15 games and 14-6 their last 20. They had won nine in a row on the road and were 19-9 the previous 28 away from Houston.

These were impressive comeback wins, with the Orioles down 5-2 to the last of the eighth Friday and down 2-0 to the last of the sixth yesterday.

They scored 10 runs in winning these two games, and two bases-loaded swings have produced seven of those runs. Yeah, pretty clutch by Anthony Santander and Jackson Holliday.

Holliday picked a great time to end an 0-for-20 stretch, jumping on the first pitch from reliever Tayler Scott, who had a 1.92 ERA coming into the game. It didn’t go up, as he allowed runs all charged to Valdez.

"That was my approach, just be ready (for that first pitch),” said Holliday, the youngest player with a pinch-hit, extra-base hit since Juan Soto on May 15, 2018. “Was trying to keep it simple. Hit something hard to the middle of the field, and as I said out on the field, I saw his changeup pretty well last night and was able to put a good swing on it.

“These are important games, they’re a good team and (we’ve) kind of been scuffling a little bit. To get two wins in a row is obviously very helpful to build momentum. Three RBIs in that big of a spot is pretty awesome. An 0-for-20, to end it with that is special.”

Two nights in a row, outfielder Colton Cowser made a big play with his feet and speed just ahead of the big hits. He got back to third base on Friday and legged out an infield single to load the bases yesterday.

Valdez was late getting to first base and seemed to be jogging, not sprinting, on the play. If he had covered the bag in time, it would have ended the inning before Holliday got a chance to bat.

But Cowser’s hustle and dive into the first-base bag paid off big.

“Yeah, I’d say so,” said Cowser, who flew around the bases to score the third run on the Holliday double. “You know, I think we’re at that point in the year where it can be the difference sometimes.”

Added manager Brandon Hyde: “Unbelievable hustle. Even though he’s 6-4, he can move. He sniffed that hit the whole way. Awesome slide. Good ABs before that too with Eloy (Jiménez) and Gun (Gunnar Henderson) getting us going."

A player running at 30 feet per second is showing elite sprint speed, per Statcast. Cowser was at 29.7 on that infield hit.

“It’s important,” Cowser said of using his speed. “Actually, Gunnar, who is looking at me right now, we have a battle, well not necessarily a battle but he gives me a hard time because I haven’t hit 30 feet per second yet and I hit it yesterday. You know, I think that is something that can change the game and just going to continue to work.”

For the year, Cowser’s sprint speed is a solid 28.2 feet per second. While that ranks seventh on the Orioles, three players ahead of him are currently on the injured list: Jorge Mateo (29.9), Jordan Westburg (29.0) and Heston Kjerstad (28.4). But Cowser is keeping good company, with Cedric Mullins just ahead of him at 28.4.

Maybe lost in the back-to-back wins is that the Baltimore bullpen, almost out of nowhere, has put together three straight scoreless games this series over 10 2/3 innings. Before this series, the ‘pen had allowed a 6.43 ERA the previous six games and given up eight homers in 21 innings.

But now, for two days in a row against a good team, the Orioles won close games with comebacks, getting clutch hits and solid bullpen work. It’s a nice turnaround for a team that needed it and now needs more of it.

At 76-55, the Orioles are once again just a half-game out of first place. They have 31 games to play in the regular season.  

Via the Orioles X account, here is look at Holliday's double here and the final out here.