Cowser's walk-off homer lifts Orioles past Tigers, 5-3

Colton Cowser gave Camden Yards the kind of finish that can loosen a tight clubhouse and send a crowd home believing again, launching a three-run walk-off homer in the ninth inning to lift the Orioles past the Tigers, 5-3, in the opener of a day-night doubleheader.

The shot came with two outs off Kenley Jansen and capped a comeback after Detroit had held a 3-1 lead. Taylor Ward narrowed the gap with an RBI single in the eighth, then Jackson Holliday opened the ninth with a walk, stole second, and Leody Taveras also worked a walk before Cowser turned on an 0-2 sinker and drove it roughly 440 feet into the right-center seats. The ball left his bat at 111.5 mph, and the homer stood as Baltimore’s first walk-off win of the 2026 season.

For an Orioles team that has spent much of the spring searching for a steadier edge, the moment mattered because it looked and felt like a reset. Brandon Young gave Baltimore 6 2/3 innings, Gunnar Henderson added a homer of his own, and the crowd of 17,616 at Oriole Park at Camden Yards got the sort of late surge that can change the mood around a team for days, not just innings. Coby Mayo was scratched late with lower back tightness, but the Orioles still found enough to finish.

Cowser’s homer was his second of the season and the first walk-off plate appearance of his career. It also ended a notable drought: no Orioles player had hit a walk-off homer while the team was trailing since Adley Rutschman did it on May 15, 2024 against the Blue Jays. Gunnar Henderson was the first Oriole out of the dugout to greet Cowser after the ball cleared the wall, and Pete Alonso helped with the Gatorade celebration at home plate.

The loss pushed Detroit’s skid to eight games and extended a strange stretch of offensive frustration, with the Tigers logging seven hits or fewer in 10 straight games, the longest such streak in franchise history. Baltimore later split the doubleheader by falling 4-1 in Game 2, but the first game delivered the kind of pressure-relief moment that can linger in a season still trying to find its footing.