Junior Caminero gave Tampa Bay the October swing it had been waiting for, driving a seventh-inning homer off the left-field foul pole to help finish a 7-3 Game 6 win over Cleveland and send the Rays to the World Series.
Key takeaways
- Caminero’s two-run drive off Guardians closer Cade Smith was his first postseason home run, coming in his 36th playoff plate appearance.
- The Rays clinched the American League Championship Series before an announced sellout crowd of 40,230 at Tropicana Field.
- Smith had previously thrown 880 splitters without surrendering a home run on that pitch.
- Caminero took 38.66 seconds to circle the bases, the second-slowest uninterrupted homer trot tracked by Statcast since 2015.
- Tampa Bay will meet the Brewers in the World Series, with Game 1 scheduled for Friday at 8 p.m. ET on FOX, FOX Deportes and FOX One.
A blast built for the October stage
The Rays carried a 5-3 lead into the seventh when Caminero came up against Smith, one of the game’s toughest late-inning assignments. The 23-year-old got hold of a splitter and sent it high toward the left-field corner. He watched from the first-base line as the ball stayed fair, striking the pole for a two-run homer that supplied an important cushion in the series-clinching victory.
It was the kind of connection Tampa Bay expected from a hitter who launched 42 home runs during the regular season and already owns 94 in his four-year Major League career. But the postseason had been quieter by Caminero’s standards. He had not gone deep through his first 36 plate appearances, and manager Kevin Cash had encouraged him before Game 6 to relax and enjoy the occasion rather than chase the moment.
Cash said Caminero had wanted badly to deliver for the club in recent days. The manager called Smith an elite reliever and said he was thrilled to see Caminero take advantage of the pitch and drive it off the pole.
President of baseball operations Erik Neander noted that the deeper a player gets into October, the harder it can be to manage the urge to force a breakthrough. Caminero wanted the big swing, Neander said, particularly as a young player still looking for his first playoff homer. On this night, he found it.
The Rays’ dugout and bullpen erupted. Closer Bryan Baker said the club had been waiting for Caminero’s signature postseason play, adding that the homer came against a top-caliber pitcher and gave Tampa Bay breathing room it ultimately needed. Baker described the ballpark as electric when the drive hit the pole.
Cash was part of the celebration, too. Usually measured in the dugout, the 48-year-old manager threw both arms up, shouted, exchanged high-fives near the steps and pumped his fists as Caminero began his lap around the bases.
Caminero shares the celebration
There was nothing hurried about that lap. Caminero stopped near the first-base coach’s box to pound his chest and shout toward the crowd. He skipped between first and second, cupped his right hand by his ear on the way toward third, pointed skyward and added more chest taps before arriving at home.
The 38.66-second trip was second only to Caminero’s own 40.65-second trot on Sept. 15 among undisputed homers with no interruption in Statcast records dating to 2015.
One final gesture was reserved for Randy Arozarena, Caminero’s former Rays teammate, who was seated behind home plate. Arozarena, now with Seattle, had shouted before the at-bat that Caminero should hit one out. Caminero answered by crossing his arms in Arozarena’s familiar celebration as he reached the plate.
“My guy,” Caminero said of Arozarena. “We played together in ’23. Randy’s a good guy. I know him. I stopped at home plate, I went like this [arms crossed], and I said, ‘This is for you my guy. Enjoy.’”
Caminero said Arozarena had called the home run before it happened.
After the final out, Caminero took Tampa Bay’s AL champions flag toward the backstop and tried to plant it in the turf. He then yelled, “Tampa, this is for you!” The celebration carried extra weight for a franchise returning to the World Series for the first time since its 2020 club, one that included Arozarena.
“Amazing,” Caminero said. “I couldn’t believe it. I still can’t believe it.”
