LOS ANGELES -- The Dodgers are the two-time defending World Series champions. Dodger Stadium features a raucous environment, as the ballpark is routinely filled with 50,000-plus fans. It’s a tough test for any team to play Los Angeles, but especially at Chavez Ravine.
This weekend, the Orioles met the challenge.
After a heartbreaking loss on Friday night, Baltimore bounced back and won both Saturday night and Sunday afternoon, capping its series win over L.A. with a 12-1 victory. Colton Cowser led the way in the finale, recording four RBIs and a season-high three hits, including one of the Orioles’ four home runs on the day.
The O’s (37-42) are 3-3 so far on their West Coast road trip after previously dropping two of three in Seattle. They’ll now make the short commute to Anaheim to open a three-game set vs. the Angels on Monday night.
If Ryan Helsley hadn’t given up three runs in the bottom of the ninth on Friday (resulting in a 6-5 walk-off win for the Dodgers), the Orioles would have taken all three games at Dodger Stadium. On Saturday, they held on for a 3-2 victory, though Los Angeles plated both its runs in the ninth and had the potential tying run on third base when the contest ended.
Sunday, however, was not a nail-biter. Baltimore scored in each of the first four innings and built a 6-1 lead by the fourth. Taylor Ward hit a solo homer in the second and Cowser followed with a solo shot in the third.
Cowser added a left-on-left, two-run single off Jack Dreyer in the fourth. The 26-year-old outfielder is only 3-for-16 (.188) against southpaws this season, but he has a hit in each of his past two plate appearances against them, as he also singled against Dreyer on Friday.
The O’s turned it into a blowout with a four-run seventh. Blaze Alexander and Jeremiah Jackson hit back-to-back one-out doubles, and later in the inning, Pete Alonso clubbed a three-run home run to right-center field, his team-high 18th homer of the year. It also marked a career-high-tying 10th opposite-field home run for the 31-year-old, who also had 10 for the Mets in 2025.
Alexander then pushed Baltimore’s lead to 12-1 with a two-run home run in the eighth, his third hit of the afternoon.
Orioles starter Brandon Young continued his recent run of success with five innings of one-run ball. The 27-year-old right-hander has a 2.15 ERA over his past six starts and a 3.07 ERA in 12 outings this season. The O’s also improved to 10-2 in games started by Young.