When a team is riding a winning streak, it always seems rude when a game turns out the wrong way.
But this?
The Rays blew a five-run lead and lost 10-8 to the Houston Astros. Yordan Alvarez homered twice and drove in six runs as the Astros stopped the Rays' nine-game winning streak.
There for a while, it looked like a gimmie putt for the Rays. Junior Caminero homered (as did Richie Palacious and, later in the game, Jonny DeLuca.
But the Rays' pitching didn't hold. Drew Rasmussen, named to the American League All-Star team earlier in the day, struggled. He gave up six hits and five earned runs in five innings. Cole Sulser came in and gave up three more. At the end, Casey Legumina gave up the winning two runs.
Caminero now has 11 home runs in 11 games.
The Rays had a chance to score even more early. However, they left nine men on base and were just two-for-11 with runners in scoring position.
Caminero, DeLuca and Palacios all had two hits.
Caminero was named a starter on the AL All-Star team. Yandy Diaz, Drew Rasmussen and Bryan Baker all made the team.
The Rays continue to lead the Yankees by four games in the AL East.
The Rays play the Astros again today at 3:30 p.m. at Daikin Park. Griffin Jax will start for the Rays against Peter Lambert.
And on today's ongoing Junior News, he's at it again.
These days, what's up with Junior Caminero of the Tampa Bay Rays is a separate category of what's going on with his team. Both are soaring, by the way.
After taking a night off from his home run streak, Caminero homered again in Friday night's 3-1 victory over the Houston Astros.
Caminero hit his 10th home run in 10 games, breaking a 1-1 tie in the seventh inning. It led the Rays to their ninth straight win.
Actually, the hitting star for the Rays on this night was catcher Nick Fortes, who homered in the sixth to give the Rays a lead and then who doubled in an insurance run in the eighth.
Martinez had a strong start./KIM HUKARI
Nick Martinez threw 5 1/3 innings of three-hit, one run baseball. Kevin Kelly got the win with a perfect 1 2/3. Innings. Bryan Baker had his 23rd save.
Last season’s team leader, Pete Fairbanks, had only 27 saves for the entire year.
The Rays managed just five hits against Spencer Arrighetti. The Astros, however, had just three.
The Rays play the Astros again tonight at 7:10 at Daikin Park. Drew Rasmussen (7-4) will start for the Rays against Hunter Brown (1-0).
Caminero hit his 10th home run in 10 games./KIM HUKARI
Turns out, the Rays can win without Junior Caminero.
It just isn't as much fun.
Caminero had his six-game home run streak stopped Thursday night in a 5-2 victory over Kansas City. It was a rare quiet game by Caminero, who had nine homers in his previous eight games.
This season, Caminero has hit .317 with 21 (of his 24) home runs in Rays' wins.
This time, it was Cedric Mullins' home run streak (four in his last five games) that had Rays' talking. Mullins' average is up to .217 after a horrible start.
Chandler Simpson and Hunter Feduccia each had htree hits. Mullins had two.
Again, Ian Seymour was superb from the mound. He went six innings of three-hit, one-run baseball. Bryan Baker recorded his 22nd save.
In the Rays' current eight-game winning streak, the pitching has allowed 15 runs.
The Rays travel to Houston to play at 8:15 p.m. against the Astros at Daikin Park. Nick Martinez (7-2) will start for the Rays against Spencer Arrighetti (7-4).
Before you ask, yeah, the other guys played pretty well, too.
Shane McClanahan threw six innings of three-hit, shutout baseball. Cedric Mullins hit a home run and drove in two runs. Jonathan Arandz had two hits to drive his average up to .294. Taylor Walls had three hits.
But, yeah, the kid was hot again.
Junior Caminero homered for the sixth straight game -- he has nine in eight games -- to lead the Rays to a 4-0 win over the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium.
It was the sixth straight win for the Rays, who now lead the Yankees by 3 1/2 games in the American League East.
Caminero hit the first pitch he saw on the night 425 feet.
Chandler Simpson also had two hits.
McClanahan stopped his losing streak./KIM HUKARI
McClanahan had lost his last three games. But he was dominant from the first pitch. The Rays now have thrown five shutouts on the year.
Tampa Bay and Kansas City play again tonight at 7:40 at Kauffman. Ian Seymour (4-1) will start for the Rays against Stephen Kolek (4-2).
Wednesday, 4 a.m. Wait. Did you hear the latest about Junior Caminero? Well, he led the Rays to a victory again. He hit another home run, his eighth in the last seven games. He drove in three more runs, giving him 18 in the last seven. He has hit .481 over those seven games. Oh, […]
Monday, 4 a.m. He has outgrown all of the adjectives. Any further descriptions of Junior Caminero seem stale, insufficient. He is the hottest hitter in Major League Baseball, and no one else is second. Yes, Caminero hit another home run Sunday. Of course he did. It was his seventh home run in six games, and […]
Sunday, 4 a.m. Well, look who’s back in first place. The Tampa Bay Rays, in free-fall in recent weeks, have climbed back into the lead in the American League East. They re-passed the New York Yankees by percentage points with a 4-2 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks. Once again, the Rays rode their big three […]
Saturday, 4 a.m. The relentless attack of Junior Caminero isn’t over yet. One day after his three home-run day, Caminero kept it going Friday night at Tropicana Field. Caminero launched a 437-foot home run to lead the Rays to a 6-1 win over Arizona. Caminero, who now has 20 home runs on the season, homered […]
Friday, 4 a.m. For nine innings, they were in a race toward history. The bat. The arm. No one could stop either of them. There was the star, Junior Caminero. Already one of the finest young stars in baseball. Camerino has never been better. He launched three home runs in the game, leading the Rays […]
Thursday, 4 a.m. When the losing streaks of the Tampa Bay Rays are broken, it usually comes down to Yandy Diaz who leads the way. Diaz did it again Wednesday night, getting four hits as the Rays were finally able to beat the Kansas City Royals, 5-3, at Tropicana Field. Diaz, whose average is up […]
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About Gary Shelton
• No one covers Tampa Bay like Gary Shelton.
• No one has seen as many moments, as many athletes, as many coaches as he has over the last quarter of a century.
• No one has won more awards, including two national Associated Press Sports Editors Best Columnist awards and eight top 10 finishes. He also just received his sixth Sportswriter of the Year award for Florida by the NSSA.
• No one has seen more big events, including 29 Super Bowls, 10 Olympics and 11 Final Fours. Gary still goes into the locker rooms to obtain his stories.
• No one has made you angrier, or laugh louder, or think harder about what he has written.
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