Jonny DeLuca’s walk-off triple gives Rays first sweep of season
ST. PETERSBURG — The start of Jonny DeLuca’s time with the Rays was frustrating. The outfielder fractured his hand in spring training, so he had to watch as Tampa Bay struggled through its first 32 games, falling below .500 and being swept by the worst team in baseball.
Since being activated Friday night, DeLuca has made up for lost time.
In his third game back from the injured list, DeLuca lined a two-run triple into centerfield in the 10th inning to walk off a 7-6 Rays win over the Mets in front of 19,310 at Tropicana Field.
“It’s always tough when I’m watching from the stands and feel like I can contribute,” DeLuca said Friday night when he was activated. “But there’s a lot of studs here. So yeah, it’s just all coming together. It’s so early in the season and I’m excited for the future.”
DeLuca is proving to be a catalyst for a better future for the Rays. Sunday’s win gave Tampa Bay (17-18) its first series sweep of the year and tied a season-high third win in a row.
It was the second walk-off win of the season for the Rays and the first walk-off hit for DeLuca.
“He’s going to go off and have good at-bats. He’s going to steal a base when he needs to. He’s going to do a lot of things to help you win. And he certainly did today with that final at-bat,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said.
“He hung in there against (Mets reliever Jake) Diekman, who was really tough. He fouled off three or four pitches and finally got a hold of one.”
In three games with the Rays, DeLuca has driven in six runs. None was bigger than the two he brought across the plate to end Sunday’s game.
“I was literally just trying to keep it simple, had a simple approach to put the ball in play,” DeLuca said. “Usually when you do that, good things happen.”
Good things had not been happening in bunches for the Rays.
They started a nine-game homestand Friday after a 1-5 road trip and seemed to start to put things together with a high-offense win that night versus the Mets. They scraped together another close win Saturday, and Sunday looked like it could very easily take a turn for the worst.
Starting pitcher Ryan Pepiot, who came to the Rays with DeLuca when Tyler Glasnow was traded to the Dodgers, left in the third inning after being hit by a come-backer line drive. The Rays announced he had a contusion on his lower left leg and will be day-to-day, but his early exit also tapped out a bullpen that was already without Colin Poche and Pete Fairbanks.
The Rays twice blew a one-run lead, were held scoreless for six innings and were trailing by one and down to their last strike when a slumping Randy Arozarena caught hold of a slider over the plate. He crushed his fifth home run of the season, after previously striking out three times, to send it into extra innings.
An overturned call and an error on first baseman Yandy Diaz resulted in the Mets taking a one-run lead in the top of the 10th.
But DeLuca had been waiting and watching a long time to get a chance like Sunday.
After he fractured his hand in the spring training series against the Red Sox in the Dominican Republic, he was able to still work out. He would stand in the batting cage and track pitches just to keep his eyes ready. That helped him get a quick jump when the doctors cleared him.
And he was excited to fight for the chance.
Jose Caballero, the ghost runner placed at second to start the bottom of the 10th, stole his fourth base of the game and Ben Rortvedt drew a walk to set up DeLuca’s game-winner. Against the lefty Diekman, who was with the Rays last season, DeLuca fouled off four straight pitches before he hammered an 0-2 changeup.
After winning three games in a row, the Rays feel like something has changed. DeLuca is just happy to aid the cause.
“Baseball is a hard game and it’s fun to contribute,” DeLuca said. “So I’m just glad I was able to contribute to these three wins.”
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