VIDEO: Tampa Bay's Kevin Kiermaier Gets Inside-the-Park Home Run on First Pitch
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Kevin Kiermaier has been red hot lately, and last weekend, Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash moved him into the leadoff spot in the order to generate some excitement.
Kiermaier, the Rays' speedy center field, did that — and then some. On the first pitch in the bottom of the first, he hit an inside-the-park home run against Miami Marlins pitcher Pablo Lopez.
Kevin Kiermaier hits an inside the park homerun!
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Miami center fielder Jesus Sanchez came in quickly on the low line drive, and tried to make the catch, but the ball skipped by him and went all the way to the wall. Right fielder Avisail Garcia tracked down the ball, but Kiermaier never stopped running and was waved home. He beat the throw home with a slide.
It was his fourth career inside-the-park home run. He also has four leadoff homers in his career. It was his sixth home run of the year, which now give him the team lead. Kiermaier has only hit 12 home runs total the past three seasons.
Kiermaier has been on one of the hottest stretches of his career. He had three hits in three straight games last week, accomplishing that feat fore the first time in his nine-year career with the Rays.
Kiermaier is a Fort Wayne, Ind. native.
This is the first meeting of the year between the two Florida teams. They will play a gain on Wednesday night at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, and then will meet for two more games in late August in Miami.
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Tom Brew is the publisher of Inside The Rays, and has been with the Sports Illustrated/FanNation network for three years. He is an award-winning writer and editor who has spent most of his four-decade career at the Tampa Bay Times, Indianapolis Star and South Florida Sun-Sentinel. He has written four books.