Cowser finds fountain redemption with 430-foot homer

KANSAS CITY -- When Colton Cowser arrived at Kauffman Stadium on Sunday morning, the 24-year-old Orioles outfielder was still feeling immense remorse. He repeatedly made sure that Craig Kimbrel knew it was unintentional when he “yeeted” the ball from the closer’s milestone 422nd save into one of the ballpark’s trademark fountains immediately after Saturday’s game.

“I still feel terrible about what happened yesterday,” Cowser said. “I’ve apologized to Craig so much.”

Even though Cowser successfully located the ball -- and collected it from a ballpark employee who used a long net to scoop it out -- it was soaked after sinking to the bottom of the fountain. To make up for it, Cowser got a container of rice and put the ball inside of it, leaving it on the top shelf of the empty locker next to Kimbrel’s to dry out.

Then, Cowser made up for it with his bat, too. He hit a third-inning leadoff homer in Baltimore’s 5-0 series-clinching victory over Kansas City that -- fittingly enough -- landed in a fountain.

“We preferred him hitting one into the fountain instead of throwing one into the fountain,” manager Brandon Hyde said.

Cowser’s blast traveled a Statcast-projected 430 feet and was the fifth homer of his 46-game big league career -- all of which have come over his past 10 contests.

After Cowser’s latest home run, a Kauffman Stadium employee attempted to use a giant net to try to collect the ball from the fountain in right-center field. It was a case of déjà vu for Cowser, who watched as an employee scooped Kimbrel’s ball out of a fountain in left-center less than 16 hours earlier.

It wasn’t clear whether Cowser’s homer ball Sunday was retrieved, but he hoped that it was not.

“Hopefully, they keep that one down there,” Cowser said. “That one deserves to stay down there after what happened yesterday.”

Kimbrel, who was never mad at Cowser for Saturday’s incident, didn’t have any immediate plans for the ball that moved him into a tie with Billy Wagner for seventh on the AL/NL all-time saves list. Of course, it needed to dry first.

“There’s a lot of water that needs to come out of there,” Kimbrel said with a grin. “We’ll see what happens.”

While the rice potentially worked its magic in the visiting clubhouse, Cowser helped the Orioles (14-7) go out and notch their sixth win in seven games. His homer off right-hander Seth Lugo continued his hot start to his rookie season, during which he’s batting .373 (19-for-51) with a 1.195 OPS in 20 games.

It was immediately followed by a 433-foot blast from Jordan Westburg, who also has five home runs this season and is batting .333 (24-for-72) with a 1.031 OPS through 20 games.

“Those were loud, too,” Hyde said. “Both are swinging the bat extremely well.”

The pair of third-inning solo homers were more than enough offensive support for Cole Irvin, who blanked the Royals for 6 2/3 innings. It was the 30-year-old left-hander’s longest outing since Sept. 17, 2022, when he pitched seven frames for the A’s at Houston.

“Cole was great, efficient, working counts,” Cowser said. “Showed a lot of poise. Really happy for him and the start that he put together.”

Added Hyde: “That’s definitely the best start [Irvin’s] had since we got him last year.”

Baltimore added two more runs in the sixth via Ryan Mountcastle’s RBI double and Westburg’s bases-loaded walk and another in the ninth on Ramón Urías’ RBI infield single en route to its first shutout win of the year. It also marked the first time Kansas City had been shut out in 2024.

“Just a quality team game, felt like we did all the little things right today,” said Irvin, who worked around four hits and two walks while striking out a pair.

The Orioles have won five of their first seven series, and they have taken two of three from the Royals twice during that span. They played well throughout the three-game set in Kansas City.

However, this weekend’s series will more so be remembered for Cowser’s repeated fountain antics. He’ll surely hear more about it from his teammates on the flight to Anaheim, where the O’s open a three-game series vs. the Angels on Monday.

“It was kind of funny, I guess. I don’t know,” Cowser said. “I’m not going to think it’s crazy funny. But I put a good swing on it [Sunday], so pretty proud of myself there.”