BALTIMORE -- The Orioles have not played their best defense in 2026. They did not play their best defense on Sunday, either, when they took a 6-4 loss to the Nationals in the finale of a three-game series at Camden Yards.
However, Colton Cowser continues to be one of the biggest exceptions.
The 26-year-old put on another defensive clinic in center field. In fact, Sunday may have been one of the best showings by Cowser in the field during his four-year, 345-game MLB career. And throughout the afternoon, he continued to one-up himself.
“Cowser had a great game,” manager Craig Albernaz said.
That’s an understatement.
In the fourth inning, Cowser made a running catch in deep left-center field to end the frame, helping right-hander Kyle Bradish strand a pair of Washington baserunners. Cowser made it look easy, but the catch probability was only 70%, as he covered 103 feet on the play.
In the fifth, Cowser took away extra bases -- and potentially even a home run -- from Dylan Crews with a leaping catch into the right-center-field wall, which Cowser hit so hard his hat came off in the process.
“It was more so for how long I was running and kind of the angle I was going back on,” Cowser said. “I checked kind of right when it was hit. But I think it’s more of one of those things that just you kind of get used to out there. You kind of understand how that gap plays. And so, it kind of got to the point where I was like, ‘I kind of feel like I need to jump here.’ Regardless if it was out or not, it was more so I was running pretty fast, so I was like, ‘I kind of want to brace myself here.’"
It seemed likely to be Cowser’s best defensive gem of the day. That is, until the sixth, when Cowser fielded a Keibert Ruiz two-out single in deep right-center and then made a spinning, off-balance, 79.1 mph throw to second. Not only was it an accurate throw, but it easily beat Ruiz, who was trying for a double when he got tagged out by Gunnar Henderson on the play.
“Honestly, I was just trying to put it in the vicinity of Gunnar, more so to make [Ruiz] stop rather than throw him out, but he just kept going,” Cowser said. “So it ended up working out.”
Cowser’s defense is setting a great example for Baltimore (39-46), which needs to play cleaner baseball if it hopes to make a postseason push in the second half. Some others playing solid defensively include first baseman Pete Alonso and catcher Adley Rutschman, who threw out James Wood trying to steal second in the ninth to improve to 14-for-38 (36.8%) at nabbing baserunners this season.
But there have been too many lapses by others. For example, Coby Mayo committed an error on a routine ground ball with two outs in the bottom of the third that allowed the Nats to score the go-ahead run, giving them a 3-2 lead they never relinquished.
It’s not for a lack of effort. The O’s have put in plenty of pregame work on their defense -- which is how Cowser has become an above-average center fielder after spending much of his early career in the corners.
“It’s something that I’ve really worked on,” Cowser said. “It’s something that you can contribute out there, even if you’re not contributing at the plate.”
Cowser is contributing at the plate now as well, though. He went 2-for-3 with a run scored and a pair of singles, including one off a left-hander (Mitchell Parker) in the seventh. Although Cowser is 4-for-22 (.182) against southpaws, three of those hits have come in the past 10 days.
Despite Cowser’s all-around strong showing, the Orioles couldn’t win Sunday’s rubber game. They have dropped two straight series and have either lost or tied six of their past seven series.
There’s still a belief inside of Baltimore’s clubhouse that the season can get going in the other direction. And with the American League Wild Card race so congested, it could take just one long run for the O’s to make a push up the standings.
But the recent series losses are disappointing nonetheless.
“Every loss is difficult,” Albernaz said, “but yeah, these two [vs. Washington], for sure.”
“Obviously, every game matters,” Henderson said. “Execute a little bit more on the back half of the games, and we’ll win more games.”