For a second it appeared that Kansas City Royals reliever Angel Zerpa had hit the Baltimore Orioles’ Colton Cowser to force in the go-ahead run in the fifth inning of Wednesday’s wild-card game in Baltimore. Instead, it was ruled a strikeout for the inning’s second out because the ball hit Cowser’s right hand after he had swung and missed.
The next batter, Adley Rutchman grounded out to end the Orioles’ threat, leaving the game tied at 1.
Baltimore’s Cedric Mullins had tied the game not long before with a leadoff home run in the fifth. The Orioles then loaded the bases on a single, walk and error by Royals starter Seth Lugo.
Lugo, who had struck out six and walked one to that point, got Anthony Santander to pop up to first baseman Yuli Gurriel for the first out of the inning before Royals manager Matt Quatraro went to the mound to replace Lugo with the left-handed Zerpa.
The Orioles had the right-handed hitting Austin Slater available on the bench to face Zerpa, but Brandon Hyde chose to stick with the left-handed hitting Cowser.
Cowser was checked out by the Orioles’ athletic trainer, but stayed in the game.
It was the second time in the game the Orioles had a player hit by a pitch that caused confusion. In the first inning, Lugo hit Jordan Westburg with one out in the inning. The ball appeared to hit Westburg’s hand before hitting the knob of the bat, but Lugo fielded the ball and tagged Westburg as he walked toward first base. The Royals didn’t challenge the play.
(Photo of Cowser being examined in the fifth: Tommy Gilligan / Imagn Images)
