TAMPA, FL — Things looked bleak by May for Tampa Bay, when the Rays first hit the five games under .500 mark. The Phillies came in and swept the Rays, scoring seven or more runs in each game. They then won a series vs. Milwaukee and one at Toronto, before heading down to Miami and losing two-of-three to the perennially rebuilding Marlins. The Astros then came to Tampa, won the first game and Tampa Bay was back to five games under .500.
That’s when it turned. With solid starting pitching and sufficient bursts of offense, the Rays won their next five, and 12 of their next 15 games.
Image Credit: MLB
By Memorial Day, all five Rays starters had completed their tenth straight turn through the rotation since the season’s start, without missing one. They were the only team that could make that claim.
Now each starter is at least a dozen (12) consecutive turns in that streak.
Tampa Bay’s MVP through the first third of the season was likely Jonathan Aranda, of Tijuana, Mexico. The 27-year-old, seeking his first MLB All-Star Game appearance, is hitting .321 with 7 HRs and 32 RBI on the season, with smart base-running and playing very good defense at first base.
But the hot story right now is 21-year-old third baseman Junior Caminero of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, who leads the team in home runs with 15, and has hit six in his last eight games. Last Saturday in Houston, Caminero’s four extra base hits (two homers, & two doubles) made him the fourth youngest player to do that in the last 75 years.
He was then named American League Co-Player of the Week with .379, four 2B, four HR, 13 RBI in seven games.
Image Credit: MLB
On Wednesday vs. the Texas Rangers, he became just the second Ray in franchise history to homer and steal home in the same game. Randy Arozarena (Mantua, Cuba) did it in the first game of the 2021 American League Championship Series vs. Boston.
Twenty four hours later, Caminero started the scoring of a Rays win with a second inning home run, his 11th at home at Steinbrenner Field. With the three-run rally to win it in the bottom of the ninth on Thursday, he got the first RBI and then scored the winning run—on the Major League’s first walk-off two-run infield single since 2009. And it was Junior Caminero bobblehead night…
“We battled. We fought,” Caminero said through team interpreter Eddie Rodriguez. “When we came into the ninth inning, I thought and I talked to myself, I was like, ‘This is our inning. We’re going to get them here.’”
Image Credit: MLB
With the sweep of Texas completed Thursday, the Rays are 10-1 at home in Steinbrenner field in the last 11 games. That followed a 3-13 home stretch from April 15 to May 19.
The home field advantage that Rays followers talked about in the pre-season is finally showing signs of being a reality.
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