Monday, 4 a.m.
When he is good, when he is at his best, the sun always shines.
When he is good, when he is right, there is a gentle breeze coming off the lake. The birds sing. Traffic flows.
Ah, but when Junior Caminero struggles, there are snakes in the woods. No one gets along. The price of gas has gone up again.
For the Tampa Bay Rays, that is the way the worldworks. When the team wins, Junior is a star. When they do not, he falls short.
Check out Sunday's 7-2 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals. Once again, Caminero was impressive in a victory. In 58 of them this year, he's hit .314 with 26 homers and 60 RBI. In losses, Caminero has played in 65 games. He's hitting just .198 with 11 homers and 28 RBI.
Of course, much of the reasons the Rays win -- when they do -- is because of Caminero.
Caminero launched a grand slam Sunday on the first pitch he saw. It was his 37th homer of the year. After he hit it, the Rays cruised.
Christopher Morel had three hits and Chandler Simpson had two (including a triple) in the win. Rookie Carlos Williams had a double.
Ryan Pepiot threw five one-hit innings for the Rays before he left because of his work-load. The Cardinals had only four hits on the day.
The Rays have scored 17 runs in their two-game winning streak.
The Rays are in Cleveland to face the Guardians tonight at 6:40 p.m. Ian Seymour will start for the Rays against Tanner Bibee.