Holy Cow! Colton Cowser’s home run robbery helps Orioles reach .500 for first time since April.

DENVER — The way the Orioles spilled out of their dugout, it looked as if players meant to make a mad dash out to Colton Cowser themselves. Their center fielder lay hunched for a moment, on his back, out near the 415-foot sign on the center-field wall at Coors Field.

And most importantly, that ball was nestled in his glove.

Let’s think about that ball for a moment. Off Jake McCarthy’s bat, it looked destined for the trees that occupy the area beyond the fence. It left McCarthy’s bat at 103 mph and sailed — as balls do in this mile-high environment — toward the green expanse for a would-be walk-off homer for the Colorado Rockies.

Instead, in a moment that may well stick out in Orioles lore and will surely follow Cowser until he is old and gray, a ballpark held its breath. Cowser, whose first step and route to the wall were right on track, leaped. Legs spread apart, glove raised, he hovered for an instant.

In that moment, Coors Field was the eye of the storm. Right-hander Andrew Kittredge stood, staring, unsure whether Cowser really snatched the ball from its walk-off destiny. McCarthy kept on running, past first base, hoping for a Gatorade bath upon his arrival at the plate. The large Orioles contingent watched in horror.

And then all hell broke loose.

A roar. A fist pump. Orioles fans leaping for joy. A shocked Kittredge uttering what everyone was thinking: “Let’s f---ing go!”

The Orioles won this game against the Rockies, 2-1. That score hardly captures the heart-palpitating nature of this middle-of-the-night, post-rain-delay madness. They all spilled out of the visiting dugout, then stopped shy of storming the outfield. They waited for Cowser to come to them — then mobbed him.

“It’s the best play I’ve ever seen in person,” manager Craig Albernaz said.

“That’s probably the coolest play I’ve ever seen in person,” Kittredge said. “In that scenario, to win the game like that, I’m speechless. I don’t know what to say. That’s incredible.”

“It’s just one of those plays that if you see in person, it’s special,” left-hander Cade Povich said.

As for Cowser, he said that rivals his web gem in 2023, when playing for Triple-A Norfolk. He robbed a homer then, too, on a 10-foot fence.

“This one was better, for sure,” Cowser said. “Situation and probably level of difficulty, yes.”

How about that to begin a series with a win to prod the Orioles’ record to 69-69?

By the time the rain ceased and the thunder quieted, the lower bowl at Coors Field was sparsely filled with fans. But behind the visiting dugout on Monday night was a healthy Orioles contingent — their orange sticking out, their voices mingling with the audible excitement stemming from Baltimore’s dugout.

Those fans had to wait through a delay that lasted more than an hour, and it was worth it. For what they saw Monday night was their team reaching .500 for the first time since April in the most dramatic fashion.

“Crowd was unbelievable,” Albernaz said. “Our fans, they’ve been great all year. Especially on the road, we travel well, and we hear them. ... We heard them throughout the game, and obviously the long rain delay, them sticking around, when we came back out for the sixth, it was rocking pretty good with just O’s fans. It was awesome.”

In all the months that have followed, with a nadir of nine games under .500 in early July, Baltimore has clawed back to this point. And with a victory against the Rockies, the Orioles move within half a game of the final American League wild-card spot.

An amazing quality of a 162-game baseball season is how it can all come down to the final handful of series. The Orioles have 24 games remaining. They find themselves, improbably, in the thick of a postseason chase that has been made possible through the mediocrity of the American League.

And in the late-night hours of the Mountain West, the Orioles did enough to beat one of baseball’s bottom dwellers.

“Vibes are definitely high,” said Cowser, who received Gatorade baths during his on-field television interview as if he had hit a walk-off homer himself. “Feels like we’ve been playing some pretty good baseball, but honestly, I think a lot of guys in this room would tell you, I think the best baseball is ahead of us.”

At this time of year, wins are all that matter. But the Orioles have played better defense of late, as evidenced by Gunnar Henderson at shortstop and Cowser in center.

Long before Cowser’s heroics, Povich — activated Monday afternoon to start that night — maneuvered around three walks and five hits to supply five innings with only one run against him. His evening concluded when the rain began to fall. And after a lengthy break, the Orioles’ relievers kept the score right there.

The most impactful spot came in the eighth inning, when right-hander Rico Garcia entered with two runners on and one out. In 2019, Garcia made his major league debut here for the Rockies. The next half decade led Garcia on a circuitous journey of injuries, waivers and minor league assignments.

He struggled in Sacramento over the weekend, allowing four hits and one walk in two appearances. But with his parents in Denver from Hawaii to see him in person, Garcia struck out Willi Castro on three pitches to begin his outing Monday, and he followed it with a flyout from Mickey Moniak.

Kittredge then dealt with ninth-inning pressure once Troy Johnston lofted a one-out double down the left-field line. He closed it out, however, by striking out pinch hitter Zac Veen and relying on Cowser’s insane catch.

“Oh man, relief,” Kittredge said of his first reaction. “Happy for the team. Happy for me. ... Just hoped it stayed in the yard. I could kind of tell off the bat Cowser had a really good beat on it, but I didn’t think he was going to make a play like that. That was pretty incredible.”

Despite this being a park where the ball flies, the Orioles had a quiet night offensively. They tied the game shortly after one run crossed against Povich via consecutive doubles from Dylan Beavers and Samuel Basallo.

And after the delay, they managed another but missed out on a chance to break the game open. To begin the seventh inning, Mark Manfredi and Nick Frasso issued walks to three of the first four batters to load the bases.

Cowser nearly grounded into an inning-ending double play. Instead, second baseman Connor Norby’s backhand flip to second base was slow, which allowed Cowser to beat out the relay throw to first base. The fielder’s choice gave the Orioles a lead.

“That’s a pure hustle play by Cowser,” Albernaz said. “Two strikes, you want to put the ball forward. That’s what we’re preaching to our guys, and Cowser did that. He jailbroke and he was on his horse beating that out. If he doesn’t let up on the throttle, he’s out.”

The Orioles held on, with Garcia stranding a pair and Kittredge stranding another with the help of Cowser. But hold on, they did. And now the Orioles are back to .500.