Orioles’ Craig Albernaz drops truth bomb after Colton Cowser’s walk-off home run vs. Rays

Memorial Day at Camden Yards delivered one of the wildest games of the 2026 MLB season, a 13-inning, back-and-forth marathon that the Baltimore Orioles finally won 9-7 when Colton Cowser crushed a two-run walk-off home run to deep right-center field in the bottom of the 13th. Cowser’s blast, projected at 425 feet off the bat at 109.3 mph, capped an extraordinary 48-hour stretch that no one in Baltimore will forget anytime soon.

COLTON COWSER WALK-OFF HOME RUN

THE MILKMAN DELIVERS pic.twitter.com/OWYqkLx8Of

— MLB (@MLB) May 24, 2026

Manager Craig Albernaz didn’t sugarcoat his assessment after the game. “Definitely uplifting in the sense of, we kept on getting punched and we didn’t waver,” Albernaz said. “We kept on having great at-bats.” But he also zeroed in on Cowser personally, dropping a truth bomb about the outfielder’s recent run of form: “He had a couple tough stretches, but he stuck with his process, stuck with the work, and now we get to see that come to fruition right now. His at-bats have been better as of late, but outstanding right now.”

Colton Cowser is the first #Orioles player to hit walk-off HR's on consecutive days since Fred Lynn in '85.

Keeping the Bird Bath flowing @Orioles | #Birdland
https://t.co/fGPbvbj8w4 pic.twitter.com/7DA0JEEfYK

— MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM (@MLBNetworkRadio) May 26, 2026

That’s a manager giving credit where it’s earned, honestly and without exaggeration. Cowser came into this stretch hitting just .200/.287/.316 on the season, and he had two of his three home runs in the last eight games alone. The process Albernaz described wasn’t just talk, it showed up in the biggest moments of consecutive games.

What Cowser accomplished over this two-day stretch is genuinely historic for the Orioles franchise. He became the first Baltimore player to hit walk-off home runs on consecutive days since Fred Lynn did it on May 10-11, 1985, over 40 years ago. The day prior, Cowser had entered as a pinch hitter and launched a three-run walk-off shot off Detroit in the ninth inning, measuring 439 feet at 111.5 mph.

For a young Orioles team fighting to chase down the AL East-leading Rays, Cowser’s back-to-back heroics couldn’t have come at a better time.

The post Orioles’ Craig Albernaz drops truth bomb after Colton Cowser’s walk-off home run vs. Rays appeared first on ClutchPoints.