WATCH: Tampa Bay's Jake Mangum Hits Inside-the-Park Home Run vs. Athletics
In this story:
TAMPA, Fla. — It takes a lot of speed and a little bit of luck to hit an inside-the-park home run in the major leagues. Tampa Bay left fielder Jake Mangum had a little bit of both on Wednesday afternoon in a game against the Athletics.
In the bottom of the second inning of the matinee at Steinbrenner Field, Mangum hit a drive to deep center field off of Athletics pitcher Mitch Spence. A's center fielder Denzel Clarke went back for the ball, all the way to the wall. He went up to catch it, but couldn't get to it, and the ball bounded away from him as he hit the ground after the crash.
Mangum never stopped running, and scored easily when the relay throw was dropped.
The inside-the-park homer, the 24th in Rays history since they started playing in 1998, was the first one since Luke Raley did it in 2023. Raley now plays for the Seattle Mariners. The 24 homers are the most in baseball by any franchise since '98.
Here;'s the highlight:
Mangum on the inside 😤 pic.twitter.com/7Dmc6cwoBt
— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) July 2, 2025
Mangum, one of the top rookies in the game in 2025 who was a college star at Mississippi State, now has a seven-game hitting streak. He is now hitting .318 on the season, with two home runs and 27 RBIs.
He is also first in baseball hitting with runners in scoring position, batting .458. As he proved on Wednesday, though, he's always in scoring position, even when he's standing in the batter's box.
Kevin Keirmaier, who played center field for Tampa Bay from 2013 to 2022, had the most inside-the-park homers in Rays history with four. Carl Crawford, another speedy outfielder, had three. He played for the Rays from 2002 to 2010.
This story will be updated with quotes from Jake Mangum and others after the game.
Related Rays stories
- RAYS LOSE IN EXTRAS (Tuesday): During this hot streak, the Tampa Bay Rays always capitalized on big moments, but that hasn't happened the past few nights. They let a few chances slip away Tuesday in a 4-3 extra-inning loss to the Athletics, their first one-run game since June 11. CLICK HERE
- FAIRBANKS FALTERS IN RAYS LOSS (Monday): The Athletics scored two runs in the ninth inning off of Tampa Bay closer Pete Fairbanks, breaking a tie and taking a 6-4 win in the series opener between the two teams on Monday night. CLICK HERE
- CAMINERO MAKES HISTORY: Third baseman Junior Caminero is making a habit of crushing baseballs and setting records in the process. And he's rewriting history as a 21-year-old. Here's the story. CLICK HERE
- RAYS 2025 SCHEDULE: Here is the complete 2025 Tampa Bay Rays schedule, with dates, locations, gametimes and more, including results in real time. CLICK HERE
- RAYS' MANGUM NO. 1 HITTER IN KEY STAT: After being hampered by a groin strain, Rays left fielder Jake Mangum is a dominant presence at the plate when runs are on the line. CLICK HERE
- RAYS' DIAZ CAPS OFF EPIC MONTH: Tampa Bay Rays designated hitter Yandy Diaz took the month of June by storm, hitting .400 by flexing his muscles as one of baseball's elite hitters while powering his way into the club's history books. CLICK HERE
Tom Brew is the publisher of ''Tampa Bay Rays on SI'' and has been with the Sports Illustrated platform since 2019. He has worked at some of America's finest newspapers, including the Tampa Bay Times, Indianapolis Star and South Florida Sun-Sentinel. He owns eight sites on the "On SI'' network and has written four books.
Follow tombrewsports