Rays feed off Caminero’s surge with 4th HR in 2 days

Rays feed – Junior Caminero kept his All-Star push humming, driving in Tampa Bay’s momentum with a three-run homer and sharp work at third as the Rays beat the D-backs 6-1 for their third straight win.

ST. PETERSBURG — Junior Caminero didn’t just swing hard on Friday night at Tropicana Field. He leaned into the moment, stopping in front of his locker and urging Rays fans to show up in the weeks leading into the All-Star break.

“It gives us a lot of energy. It gives us a lot of [desire] to continue to be great ballplayers,” Caminero said through interpreter Kevin Vera. “Because that’s what we’ve done so far this year. We’ve played really good baseball.”

Then he backed it up, too.

Caminero’s energy spread through the Rays’ 6-1 win over the D-backs. Fresh off the first three-homer performance of his Major League career, he delivered a three-run homer and added a couple highlight-reel plays at third base as Tampa Bay rolled to its third straight victory.

“I think the confidence is definitely flowing in him, just continuing to make him play better,” center fielder Cedric Mullins said. “And we’re feeding off his energy.”

The night started with power. In the first inning, Caminero launched a blast off Arizona starter Zac Gallen — a shot that would have been enough by itself for most lineups, especially with All-Star candidate Nick Martinez working at the same time.

Martinez had to fight through tight spots early, but he got the D-backs to only one run — a first-inning homer by Geraldo Perdomo — across 5 2/3 innings. His ability to hold the line set the stage for Caminero to put Tampa Bay ahead for good.

After Yandy Díaz walked and Jonathan Aranda was hit by a pitch, Caminero turned a high, 2-2 fastball from Gallen into a 437-foot, 111.3 mph shot that carried from the batter’s eye in center field. It was his 20th home run of the season, and it has him on pace for a second straight 40-homer campaign.

A day earlier, he’d been voted a finalist to start the All-Star Game at third base for the American League. Friday’s swing felt like more than a continuation — it was another reminder.

“Perdomo absolutely hammered that ball off me, and [Caminero] made that home run not look like a home run,” Martinez said, smiling. “He’s obviously very special at the plate and hits the ball hard every time, and man, it’s electric.”

Gallen kept Tampa Bay from running away for a while after that first burst. He retired 15 straight hitters, and didn’t allow another run until Mullins went deep to right-center in the seventh. Tampa Bay didn’t strike out in the game for only the eighth time in franchise history. and it was the first time since June 15. 2013.

Still, the Rays had a steady answer for every threat. Martinez kept putting up zeroes, showing the poise and pitchability that put him on pace to join Caminero at the Midsummer Classic in Philadelphia next month.

He’s allowed three runs or fewer in 15 of his 16 starts, and his 2.66 ERA is the third-lowest mark among qualified starters in the AL, trailing only the Yankees’ Cam Schlittler (1.62) and teammate Drew Rasmussen (2.62).

Martinez didn’t begin smoothly. He allowed a triple to Corbin Carroll after Perdomo’s homer. But he stranded Carroll at third by retiring the next two batters, breezed through the second and third, then dug himself out of another jam in the fourth.

Manager Kevin Cash described it simply.

“I don’t think he ever gets out of the zone in his mind. It doesn’t matter who’s hitting, what the situation is,” Cash said. “Traffic gets on base, and he does maybe some of his best work.”

In the fourth inning, with runners on the corners and nobody out, Martinez calmly retired Nolan Arenado. Max Kepler then slapped a soft liner that looked like it might drop in for an RBI single.

Caminero had other plans.

The third baseman moved a few steps to his right, left his feet, and extended his left hand to snag the ball. Three pitches later, Martinez was out of the inning unscathed.

“I thought I’d, right there, play basketball,” Caminero quipped.

After that stop, the appreciation was as clear as the momentum. Martinez pumped his fists and pointed to teammates every time they made a big play.

“As soon as I let go of the ball, I become a fan. So when they make sick plays, I get jacked up for them,” Martinez said. “They certainly made a bunch of those for me today.”

Tampa Bay finally broke the game open in the seventh. Mullins hit a Statcast-projected 433-foot shot off Gallen, and the rest of the lineup’s “Big Three” followed:

An RBI single by Yandy Díaz — who broke a tie with B.J. Upton for sixth-most (448) in franchise history — and an RBI double by Jonathan Aranda.

From there, the defense kept the pressure off. Mullins made an incredible jump to rob Carroll of a hit in the eighth with a diving catch. Caminero then followed defensively, quickly starting an inning-ending double play.

Cash praised that work directly.

“He made some really nice plays,” Cash said. “But Cami works hard on his defense every single day.”

By the time the final out was recorded, the story was already obvious: Caminero wasn’t just adding runs. He was feeding a team that, for a third straight night, found ways to keep the game moving forward — on offense, and then again when it mattered most behind him.

Junior Caminero Rays D-backs Tropicana Field All-Star Game Cedric Mullins Zac Gallen Nick Martinez Yandy Díaz Jonathan Aranda Statcast Philadelphia