ST. PETERSBURG -- The pitch from Miles Mikolas would have been a ball, a changeup well outside the strike zone and quite a reach from where Jonathan Aranda stood in the left-handed batter’s box. It didn’t exactly come screaming off Aranda’s bat when he sliced it down the left-field line, either, registering as a hard-hit ball -- but just barely -- with an exit velocity of 95.2 mph.
Aranda didn’t seem totally sure what was happening as he neared second base, but he wound up completing his trot around the bases. The ball carried toward 162 Landing in the left-field corner at Tropicana Field and bounced off the foul pole for a go-ahead three-run homer in the third inning of the Rays’ 5-2 win over the Nationals on Friday night.
According to Statcast, Aranda’s 12th home run of the season would have only been a homer at three Major League ballparks: New York’s Yankee Stadium, Pittsburgh’s PNC Park and The Trop. Coming off a 1-5 trip to Southern California, the three-run shot was a perfect “welcome home” gift for Tampa Bay as the club looks to get back on track during a season-long 10-game homestand.
The Rays won for just the eighth time in their last 23 games dating back to May 24, but they improved their record at Tropicana Field to an MLB-best 25-9 this season.
The Nationals had to shuffle their pitching plans ahead of the series opener, so Mikolas entered the game in the third after two innings from lefty opener PJ Poulin. Hunter Feduccia worked a one-out walk, then Yandy Díaz reached on a single to bring up Aranda.
Aranda hadn’t homered since May 31, and his torrid RBI pace slowed as he’d driven in only five runs during his first 14 games this month. But the first baseman started hitting again during the Rays’ recent road trip, with four two-hit games in the two series, and he swatted a handful of opposite-field hits at Dodger Stadium.
He stayed with the 1-1 changeup from Mikolas, extending his arms and sending it a Statcast-projected 334 feet down the line. That put the Rays ahead, and they went on to add to their lead with an RBI single by Taylor Walls in the fourth inning and an eighth-inning solo shot by Jonny DeLuca in his first game off the injured list.
Starter Griffin Jax permitted a pair of solo homers but nothing else over five innings while throwing only 69 pitches. It seems likely his early exit was due to a blister that’s bothered him during his last few outings.
But the Rays’ bullpen handled the rest of the game, as left-hander Steven Matz worked 1 2/3 innings before Kevin Kelly, Garrett Cleavinger and Bryan Baker shut the door.