Cowser fly ball gives Orioles 4-3 win in 10 innings and sole possession of first place (updated)

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Gunnar Henderson thought he drew a leadoff walk in the top of the first inning tonight, chucking his bat and taking a couple steps toward first base. Plate umpire Junior Valentine called him out on strikes, and Henderson reluctantly made the walk of shame to retrieve it.

This isn’t how the Orioles wanted to begin an important four-game series. Unable to trust their eyes or get a baserunner for three innings. An early deficit challenging them to post a 35^th comeback win.

Inside a ballpark with fake grass and real advantages for the Rays.

A three-run fourth inning, which began with Henderson’s leadoff triple, had the Orioles poised to get it done again, but Yandy Díaz tied the game in the seventh with a two-run double off Yennier Cano. Too much intensity for either team to go quietly.

The 35th happened anyway. With a veteran laying down a sacrifice bunt and a rookie playing in his 11th major league game driving in the go-ahead run.

Colton Cowser’s fly ball in the 10^th inning scored automatic runner Aaron Hicks, and Félix Bautista worked two scoreless innings in the Orioles’ 4-3 win before an announced crowd of 20,203 at Tropicana Field.

The Orioles turned a 4-6-3 double play in the bottom of the 10th after Bautista hit Luke Raley, and the 59-37 Orioles gained sole possession of first place in the American League East.

"It's just July. That's kind of where I'm at right now," said manager Brandon Hyde.

"This team across is so good and they're so hard to play, especially here. It's such a momentum team, too. We've been on the other side of those type of games, I can't tell you how many times in my fifth year here, where we lose those types of games. But we have Félix Bautista now and that's a huge difference."

"This team has a lot of fun, and a lot of smiles going around in the clubhouse after this win," Cowser said. "Kind of looking forward to continuing throughout."

Bautista notched his 26th save yesterday and wanted the ball again tonight. He's the reason why Hyde played for one run.

"I'm so lucky to have him," said Hyde, whose club has won eight of 10 and 11 of 15, and built a six-game road winning streak that's the longest since 2020. "The reason why he can pitch the 10th is because he had such an efficient ninth. He throws under 10 pitches in the ninth inning after pitching yesterday. Goes out, has an easy ninth inning against the top of their order, and then allows us, if he scores there, he's going to go back out.

"He's amazing, and he does it again."

Cowser snapped an 0-for-15 streak with a single in the seventh inning, and his fly ball to left-center in the 10^th came after pinch-hitter Adam Frazier laid down a sacrifice bunt.

"Cowser, two-strike sac fly, enormous," Hyde said. "That's not an easy spot to be put in, especially just getting to the big leagues. To be able to battle right there and get a fly ball deep enough, says a lot about him. He's a confident guy."

He's also tallied his first career game-winning RBI.

Cowser began to play the situation in his head before he got to the plate. There would be a runner on second base, a bunt would move him to third.

"I was going to be in position to get him in," Cowser said. "I was going to try to get it done early and ended up getting in an 0-2 count, and then it turned into just doing what I could to get the job done."

Bryan Baker entered with one out in the eighth and put two runners on base. He struck out Josh Lowe, and Ramón Urías made a diving stop of pinch-hitter Harold Ramírez’s ground ball and threw him out to keep the score tied.

Orange-clad fans behind the visiting dugout were the loudest for much of the game, beginning with a resounding “O” during the national anthem. They erupted after Urías gem, and again after Brandon Lowe's ground ball brought the last two outs and improved the Orioles to 21-11 in series openers.

"I don't think we came into it thinking anything different, thinking it was must-win or really important to prove anything," said starter Kyle Gibson. "For us, we've just been playing really well in first games of the series. And I think after the game, just sitting there talking about it real quick, that was a big win not because of the standings or anything, it was big because it was the first game of the series and it set the tone. And it's a whole lot easier to win a series when you win the first one.

"That's really our focus, trying to stay one at a time and understanding that even four wins here doesn't seal anything. We've got to play two more months of really good baseball if we want to win this division."

Bautista retired the side in order with two strikeouts in the ninth, and Mike Baumann sat down after the Orioles went ahead in the 10^th. Bautista nailed Raley with a 99.1 mph fastball but lowered his ERA to 0.96.

"I felt really good the entire time," Bautista said via interpreter Brandon Quinones. "The mentality was to be prepared to go out there for two innings, and after I finished up that ninth inning, the manager came up to me and told me, 'If we score a run here, I'm sending you back out there. If we don't, you're done for the night.' So, I stayed ready the entire time."

Gibson struck out eight batters in six innings and held the Rays to one run before Taylor Walls opened the seventh with a single and Christian Bethancourt reached on a bunt single. Hyde removed Gibson at 91 pitches, with the veteran right-hander on the verge of going a fourth time through the order.

Díaz lined a sinker 109.4 mph into right-center field for a 3-3 tie. Raley lined into a double play, his ball clocked at 109 mph, after Wander Franco flied out.

Gibson scattered seven hits and didn’t retire the side in order until getting three ground balls on eight pitches in the sixth.

Henderson led off the fourth with a ground ball that nicked Walls’ glove, and he kept running until he reached third base. The official scorer initially gave Henderson a double and charged left fielder Randy Arozarena with an error for his nonchalant retrieval and throw to an uncovered bag, but switched it to a triple after consulting with the Elias Sports Bureau.

"Gunnar's triple, total heads-up play," Hyde said.

Adley Rutschman singled to tie the score, Anthony Santander singled to extend his on-base streak to 17 games, and Ryan O’Hearn flied to left after Tyler Glasnow’s wild pitch. Hicks’ two-out single upped the lead to 3-1.

The ball arrived at the plate before Santander, but catcher Francisco Mejía couldn’t hold onto it. Another costly mistake by the Rays, who have lost 12 of 15 games this month.

Mejía exited with left knee soreness, Bethancourt replaced him, and the bunt became a key moment in the game.

Glasnow struck out nine batters in seven innings and was charged with two earned runs.

The bullpens took over, and the Orioles grabbed the top spot in the standings. With no reference to percentage points. It belongs to them without explanation.

"Feels really good," Bautista said. "This is something we've worked for all year long, and I think since the start of the season this is what we wanted. Try to play good games and try to dethrone Tampa for the first spot in the division."

"Obviously, it feels good," Gibson said. "You really never want to be the team chasing anybody, so hopefully we can keep playing well. There's a lot of season left, but when you're playing good baseball against really good teams and you're coming out on top, it just seems to feel a whole lot better."

* Jud Fabian and Donta’ Williams homered tonight for Double-A Bowie.

High-A Aberdeen’s Maxwell Costes hit a three-run homer, his eighth of the season. Dylan Beavers singled and later stole home in the first inning.

Cameron Weston struck out nine batters and allowed two runs in five innings.