Should the Baltimore Orioles reach the postseason, they can point to Monday night as a pivotal crossroads.
Colton Cowser’s homer-stealing catch of Jake McCarthy’s blast with two outs in the ninth preserved a 2-1 win over Colorado. Colorado bounced back with a 4-2 win Tuesday night to snap a 10-game home losing streak.
But the stunning Monday highlight set the Orioles up to leave Denver with a .500 record and a series victory when it wraps up a three-game set against the Rockies on Wednesday.
The Orioles (69-70) will send lefty Trevor Rogers (9-9, 4.38 ERA) to the mound and Tomoyuki Sugano (12-8, 5.23) will start for the Rockies (53-86).
Rogers has made three career starts against Colorado. He is 2-0 with a 3.06 ERA in those games. He was roughed up for five runs in just 3 2/3 innings in his only appearance in Denver.
Baltimore’s newest outfielder, Luis Robert Jr., joined the team on Tuesday after being claimed off waivers from the New York Mets. He didn’t play in the loss to the Rockies but he brings postseason experience to the club from his time with the Chicago White Sox.
He hopes he can help get the Orioles back to the playoffs.
“That’s what you always play for from the moment you arrive in spring training,” Robert said through an interpreter. “Unfortunately, it didn’t happen with the Mets. But I’m excited to have this opportunity here and to try to do it with this team.”
He missed nearly three months earlier this season with a lumbar spine disc herniation, and he hopes he can stay healthy for the playoff push.
“Unfortunately, that’s been the thing that’s kept me off the field for quite some time at different points in my career,” he said. “So yeah, feeling good right now, being able to stay on the field, and I think that’s what’s led to that.”
Sugano is pitching against his former team for the first time in his career. He made his debut with Baltimore last season and was 10-10 with a 4.64 ERA in 30 starts for the club. He surpassed that 10 wins by beating Kansas City on July 31 and was 12-5 three weeks ago before struggling.
He has lost his last three starts and allowed 18 runs — 17 earned — over 12 innings in that span.
His struggles coincided with Colorado’s slide. The Rockies were 45-67 after sweeping Kansas City and then went 7-19 in August, which put them on pace to lose 100 games for a fourth consecutive season.
Manager Warren Schaeffer isn’t worried about reaching that mark again.
“I’m publicly on record last year saying, ‘What’s the difference between 99 and 100 losses?'” Schaeffer said. “But there is something to that for the organization. Everybody (externally) talks about it incessantly – I mean, you can decide where you put your importance on that.
“But we have lost 100 games three years in a row, so it’s a real thing. We want to win as many games as we can this year, and we’re going to try to.”
-Field Level Media
