ST. PETERSBURG -- A lot of factors contributed to the Rays having their worst stretch of the season. Their pitching became a little less reliable. Their lineup seemed a little less dynamic. They dealt with injuries. Their sterling record in one-run games went in reverse, as seven of their past 16 defeats were by just a single run.
But it’s also pretty hard to ignore the fact that Jonny DeLuca’s time on the injured list overlapped perfectly with the Rays losing 15 of the 22 games they played after DeLuca went down on May 22 and before he returned from a right hamstring strain on Friday night.
“I just think Jonny’s a good overall player, and he can help on both sides of the ball,” manager Kevin Cash said upon DeLuca’s reinstatement.
DeLuca helped in a big way at the plate on Sunday afternoon, ripping a go-ahead two-run homer off reliever Orlando Ribalta in the seventh inning that sent the Rays to a 4-3 win over the Nationals and a series victory at Tropicana Field.
With the Rays down by a run after the seventh-inning stretch, Yandy Díaz hit a one-out single off Ribalta. Up came DeLuca, who homered in Friday’s victory in his first start off the IL then stole second base as a pinch-runner in the ninth inning of Saturday’s defeat.
DeLuca whiffed on a first-pitch slider from Ribalta, took a high fastball then unloaded on another slider near the top of the zone. DeLuca slowly stepped out of the batter’s box as his fourth home run of the season sailed about a dozen rows deep into the left-field seats.
When DeLuca was on the shelf, the Rays went 7-15. When he has been on the active roster, they are 36-16. Coincidence? Almost certainly. But it didn’t feel that way Sunday.
Before DeLuca’s game-winning blast, it was shaping up to be another day defined by missed opportunities for the Rays -- another close-but-not-close-enough game in a frustrating stretch full of them.
After letting the Nationals pull ahead in the fourth inning, the Rays immediately wasted a couple of golden opportunities by stranding a pair of runners in scoring position in both the fourth and fifth innings.
Meanwhile, the Nationals doubled their lead as CJ Abrams homered for the third straight game. The Nats’ shortstop launched a changeup in the zone from Nick Martinez just over the right-field fence to make it a 3-1 game. The veteran right-hander still gave Tampa Bay a chance to win, holding the Majors’ highest-scoring offense to only three runs on four hits and three walks while striking out five over six innings.
Ryan Vilade answered with an even more impressive solo shot of his own, crushing a Statcast-projected 436-foot shot to center off right-hander Gus Varland to shrink the Rays’ deficit to one run.
With a lead in hand thanks to DeLuca, Bryan Baker retired the top of the Nationals' lineup in order in the eighth, and Kevin Kelly handled the ninth to pick up his third save of the season.