Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Luke Raley's first thought when he powered a first-pitch slider into Triples Alley at Oracle Park was to make it to third base. When Raley saw the ball take a few fortuitous bounces, he knew he wasn't stopping until he crossed home plate.
Raley had the first pinch-hit, inside-the-park home run in Tampa Bay history and Aaron Civale pitched six strong innings for his first victory since being acquired at the trade deadline in the Rays' 6-1 win over the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday.
"I didn't draw it up that way," Raley joked. "I would rather just hit it over the wall and then be able to jog, but they all count the same."
Raley's 15.3-second home-to-home time is the second-fastest recorded by Statcast this season, behind only Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr.'s 14.3-second mark on his inside-the-park homer Monday against the Seattle Mariners. Raley went from home to first in 4.94 seconds, and overall he traveled 29 feet per second.
Raley hit a ball off Ross Stripling that ricocheted off the brick wall in right-center, bounced off the top of the 7-foot outfield wall near center and then dropped and rolled on the warning track toward left field, scooting past Giants rookie center fielder Wade Meckler. Raley, who had been in a 4-for-29 slump in August, raced around the bases and scored standing for his 17th homer of the season.
"That was really cool," Rays manager Kevin Cash said. "It looked like a rat running across the top of the fence."
It's the first pinch-hit, inside-the-park home run in the majors since Victor Reyes had one for the Detroit Tigers on Aug. 27, 2021.
Brandon Lowe hit his 100th career home run and Josh Lowe also went deep to help the Rays stay close to the American League East-leading Baltimore Orioles. Tampa Bay is two games behind Baltimore.
Raley's home run highlighted a 14-hit attack for the scuffling Rays, who broke out of their collective offensive slump one day after being limited to three hits and shut out for the fifth time this season.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.