– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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BALTIMORE — One of the most unlikely players in the Tampa Bay Rays’ lineup hit the decisive blast to give the team a now-rare series victory in the shadows of the Inner Harbor.
Jonny DeLuca hit a two-run shot in the sixth inning to provide all the scoring needed for Tampa Bay, as the Rays defeated the Baltimore Orioles 2-0 to win the weekend series inside Oriole Park at Camden Yards on Sunday afternoon. Zack Littell and four relievers combined on a five-hit shutout as the Rays won a series in Baltimore for the first time since Aug. 27-29, 2021.
Following a lead-off walk by Orioles Corbin Burnes to Jonathan Aranda tp begin the sixth, DeLuca lifted a 1-1 slider a couple of rows into the left-field bleachers and over the high wall for just his sixth home run of the season in 289 at-bats . A former Dodgers prospect, DeLuca, who currently is batting .214 this season, went 5-for-11 with a home run in Tampa’s series a couple of weekends ago in Dodger Stadium and, for the month of September, is batting .379 (11-for-29).
“Sometimes I don’t know what comes first, the confidence or the results, but in this situation, it seems like he started getting good results in LA, and he’s really carried on now for three weeks,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said.
The Orioles threatened in the bottom of the eighth, when the first two men to bat, Coby Mayo (walk) and Gunnar Henderson (single), reached base and with the heart of the order coming up. Reliever Garrett Cleavinger struck out Adley Rutschman before Edwin Uceta came on in relief to strike out both Eloy Jiménez and Anthony Santander to end the threat.
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Sunday afternoon’s game, with photos taken by DC-area photographer Rodney Pierce. After clicking on a photo to enlarge the picture, press the left and right arrow buttons on either side of the caption to scroll through the rest of the pictures that appear on the first page, Also, click on the numbers and/or arrow appearing immediately below the picture grid to load the next set of photos. There are 24 pictures in total.
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