Friday, 4 a.m.
It was the unlikeliest of comebacks, the most improbable of walk-offs, the most confusing of sweeps.
Somehow, the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Texas Rangers 4-3 Thursday night.
Really, they did.
For most of the night, such a finish seemed impossible. They entered the ninth inning trailing 3- 1 with only three hits and 12 strikeouts. It seemed like another night when the bats were simply too quiet for a victory.
And then the darnedest rally you would ever consider occurred. It included Junior Caminero scoring all the way from second on Taylor Walls’ ground ball to second base. It involved two infield hits. In involved an RBI single by Caminero.
It was the fifth walk-off of the year by the Rays, the second straight where Walls drove in the winning run.
For most of the night, the game seemed too big for the Rays. Jack Leiter held the Rays to three hits and one earned run (a home run by Caminero).
For a long time, it seemed the memory of the game would be in a wasted fourth inning. Brandon Lowe started off the inning with a double, and Yandy Diaz walked. With Jonathan Aranda, Caminero and Kameron Misner coming to the plate, it seemed the Rays could take a commanding lead.
They didn’t. Aranda struck out. Caminero popped out to the catcher. Misner struck out.
Cole Susler, who worked the ninth inning, got the win for Tampa Bay.
Starter Ryan Pepiot went six innings and gave up just two earned runs.
All three Texas runs came on solo homers.
For the Rays, Caminero had two more hits. In his last 13 games, he’s hitting .373 with seven homers and 20 RBI. Walls also had two hits.
The Rays now host the Florida Marlins in a 1:35 p.m. today at Steinbrenner Field. Zack Littell will start for the Rays against Edward Cabrera.