Friday, 4 a.m.
There for a heartbeat, it seemed as if it was all slipping away from the Tampa Bay Rays.
Then, Junior Caminero wouldn’t let it happen.
A 3-0 lead had evaporated. A strong start by Shane Baz had turned wobbly. The bats of the Houston Astros seemed to have awoken.
And along came Junior.
Caminero, the 21-year-old third baseman of the Rays, knocked in six runs to lead the Rays to a 13-3 runaway from the Houston Astros. Caminero had a single, a double and his 11th home run of the season as the Rays blew open a tight game.
In his last six games, Caminero has 10 hits and three homers.
The Rays have won eight of their last nine games.
He wasn’t alone. The Rays scored five runs in both the seventh and eighth innings, and every position player for the Rays had a hit. In all, the Rays had 14 hits, six walks and two hit batters. They also stole five bases, including three by rookie Chandler Simpson.
Simpson essentially stole a run in the fourth, drawing a walk, stealing second, stealing third and coming home when the catcher threw wildly to third.
Besides Caminero’s three hits, Yandy Diaz, Jose Caballero and Jonathan Aranda each had two hits.
The Rays had taken a 3-0 lead, which seemed like plenty for Baz, who allowed just one hit over his first four innings. Houston woke up, however, and in Baz’ final 1 2/3 innings, he allowed six hits and three runs. A home run by Jose Altuve tied the game at three going into the seventh.
The Rays’ first five batters of the seventh all scored, however, and the Rays quickly rebuilt their lead. Another five runs in the eighth put the game away.
The Rays and Astros play again today at 8:10 p.m. at Daikin Park. Ryan Pepiot will start for the Rays against Framber Valdez.