So Sad: Baltimore Orioles Star Craig Kimbrel Has Been Suspend By The Head Coach Due To….

Stadium workers were able to retrieve the ball from the fountain

On Saturday night, the Baltimore Orioles survived a late comeback attempt from the Kansas City Royals (BAL 9, KC 7) to improve their record to 13-7. The O’s scored seven runs in the second inning, though Kansas City did damage against the bullpen, and at one point got to within 8-7. Baltimore was able to hang on for the win though.

Craig Kimbrel, who’s allowed one run and struck out 14 against zero walks in nine innings this season, closed out Saturday’s game. It was his fifth save of the season and the 422nd save of his career, moving him into a tie with Billy Wagner for seventh place on the all-time saves list. Here is a career saves leaderboard:

Mariano Rivera: 652
Trevor Hoffman: 601
Lee Smith: 478
Francisco Rodríguez: 437
Kenley Jansen: 425
John Franco: 424
Craig Kimbrel and Billy Wager: 422
A milestone save calls for saving the ball, but there was one small problem: Colton Cowser chucked it into the stands. Cowser, the left fielder, caught the final out of the game, then threw the ball towards the fans. Fortunately, it landed in one of the famed Kauffman Stadium fountains, and they were able to retrieve it for Kimbrel.

“I just yeeted it behind me,” Cowser said after the game (via MLB.com). “… Right when I threw it, I said, ‘Craig has a lot of saves, that one might have been important’. I literally told (center fielder Cedric Mullins) right whenever, ‘I might have messed up.’ And it turns out I did. We got the ball back, though.”

Cowser said there were two balls in the fountain and one was very old, so it was easy to tell which one was the milestone ball. Once they identified the ball, a stadium worker was able to retrieve it, so Kimbrel has the memorabilia from his 422nd save.

“That’s a fine, isn’t it? We’ve got to do something about that,” manager Brandon Hyde joked after the game (via MLB.com).

The O’s shouldn’t be too hard on Cowser though. They were able to retrieve the ball and the young man is hitting .375/.404/.750 with four home runs in 19 games this season. Cowser was the No. 5 pick in the 2021 draft and he is part of the young, emergent core for these upstart Orioles.

The Major League Baseball 2024 season has seen its fair share of bad calls made by umpires; however, during one of the recent games between the Kansas City Royals and the Baltimore Orioles, another faulty call was made by umpire Ryan Blakney.

The Kauffman Stadium during the game between Kansas City and Orioles saw Blakney as the home plate umpire and Cole Ragans, Kansas City pitcher, threw a 96-mph fastball to Orioles’ Gunnar Henderson, which was right down the middle.

The first pitch of Saturday’s Orioles-Royals game, right after Bally Sports Kansas City introduces the umpiring crew….

“Fastball is right down the middle for ball one.”

“What?! My goodness! Not on pitch one!”

“What part of that pitch is not a strike?”  pic.twitter.com/gsknnwkNUc Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) April 21, 2024

The umpire, Blakney, called it a ball, which drew immediate reactions from the Baltimore Orioles broadcast crew. Ryan Lefebvre, who was calling the game for the Kansas City Royals on Bally Sports Kansas City, shared, “Fastball is right down the middle for ball one.”

To which analyst Rex Hudler replied while laughing, “What? My goodness. Not on pitch one.”