By Miguel Mike Medina
Photo Credit: Baseball HQ
The Tampa Bay Rays defeated the Seattle Mariners 6-5, and it adds more satisfaction after Junior Caminero had a big night on Tuesday at George Steinbrenner Field.
Caminero opened the scoreboard in the first inning with an RBI. Josh Lowe got an RBI after reaching on a fielder’s choice to give the Rays their second run of the inning.
The Rays had a shutout until the fourth inning when Cal Raleigh belted a home run to right field. It’s his 51st of the season. Julio Rodriguez joined the party, hitting a home run to right field as well. The Mariners went back-to-back to tie the game at 2-2. Jorge Polanco followed with a solo home run to right field. The Mariners hit three consecutive homers in the inning.
Caminero gave the Rays life again in the bottom of the sixth inning with a solo home run to left field to tie the game 3-3. Caminero, 22, becomes one of the four youngest players to hit 40 home runs in a single season. He joins a great list of players: Mel Ott (20 years old, 1929), Eddie Matthews (21 years old, 1953), and Ronald Acuna Jr (21 years old, 2019).
In the same inning, with bases loaded and no outs, Tristan Gray hits a sacrifice fly to center field to bring Josh Lowe home. Rays regained the lead 4-3.
Cole Young would return the favor in the seventh inning when he tied the game for the Mariners on a sacrifice fly to center field with bases loaded and one out. It’s his 24th RBI of the season.
Caminero comes through once again in the bottom of the seventh when he hit a bullet towards third base for a 2-run double to give the Rays a 6-4 lead.
The Mariners would score one more run in the ninth inning, but Garrett Cleavinger earned his second save of the season. Cleavinger won the battle against Randy Arozarena and Raleigh to end the game.
Rays starter Drew Rasmussen tossed five innings, giving up four hits, three earned runs, and two strikeouts. No decision. Kevin Kelly got the win for the Rays. He achieved his first strikeout of the year after collecting two strikeouts in one inning.
Caminero was the key player of the game. He went 3-for-4 with 4 RBIs. He now has 40 homers and 100 RBIs in the season.
Interesting moment of the game:
Former Mariners catcher and current manager Dan Wilson got ejected from the game for arguing balls and strikes. It’s fitting because his former manager, Lou Pinella, was in the stands. Pinella didn’t seem to agree with the unoire. Pinella was known for constantly arguing with the umpires and had a reputation for getting ejected. But he was a terrific manager, and players loved playing for him.
Adrian Houser will take the mound for the Rays on Wednesday night against George Kirby for the Mariners. The game starts at 7:35 pm ET.
Miguel Mike Medina is the publisher of The MMM Journal. He can be reached at medinamiguelmike@gmail.com and themmmjournal@gmail.com
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