DeJesus hits inside-the-park homer vs. O's

ST. PETERSBURG -- The ball was in Alejandro De Aza's glove. And then, all of a sudden, it wasn't, and David DeJesus found himself circling the bases.

DeJesus hit the fourth inside-the-park home run of his career Sunday at Tropicana Field, in the bottom of the fourth inning of the Rays' series finale against the Orioles.

With two outs and no one on base, DeJesus sliced what looked like a routine fly ball into left-center field. Left fielder De Aza and center fielder David Lough converged on the ball, and as De Aza reached out to make the catch, Lough ran straight into his glove arm -- sending the ball flying all the way from the gap into the left-field corner.

"I looked out there and was hoping one of them would call off, and obviously De Aza got a glove on it, but they ran into each other," said Orioles starting pitcher Bud Norris. "Just a quirky thing, probably the second-craziest play I've been a part of."

With no Orioles fielder anywhere left near the baseball, DeJesus scored easily, giving Tampa Bay a 3-0 lead. It was the Rays' 13th inside-the-park home run in franchise history and their third of the season, the most recent being Kevin Kiermaier's against the Red Sox on May 31.

Rays manager Joe Maddon said the play reminded him of one he witnessed in Toronto in 1997 as a coach with the Angels, when the Blue Jays' center fielder tried to make a shoestring catch on Darin Erstad's sinking line drive and ended up deflecting the ball into foul territory.

DeJesus' last inside-the-parker came on April 23, 2010, against the Twins, while a member of the Royals.