ANAHEIM — Junior Caminero snapped a 1-for-11 weekend slump with a two-run homer in the eighth inning, igniting a five-run rally that carried the Tampa Bay Rays to an 8-3 win over the Los Angeles Angels in the series finale.
Caminero’s blast — his 15th of the season — came off Angels reliever Sam Bachman, who entered the game with a dominant 1.99 ERA. Cedric Mullins had walked and stolen second to set the table before Caminero drove a Bachman slider to left field, breaking a 3-3 tie. “In that moment, I tried to level up in play,” Caminero said. “I tried not [to do] too much, And, thank God I hit a home run. … Today [was a] great day for the team, not [just] for me. Everybody’s putting [in] one hundred percent here.”
The two-out rally continued after Caminero’s homer. Hunter Feduccia added an RBI single, and Victor Mesa Jr. capped the frame with a two-run home run, ballooning Bachman’s ERA to 3.31. Rays manager Kevin Cash said the dugout energy shifted on Caminero’s swing. “He delivers a bunch, but I know he was starting to really want to come through for us,” Cash said. “The dugout got excited. It was a huge homer. … Things haven’t gone our way, and it felt like after that hit, it started to go our way.”
Tampa Bay had built an early lead before the Angels clawed back to tie. Chandler Simpson dropped a two-run single into center field in the third inning, scoring Mesa and Jonathan Aranda. Ben Williamson added a solo shot to center in the fourth — his first home run as a Ray. “Probably a little bit of help from the wind, but I got a good pitch to hit and I was committed to it and luckily I snuck over the fence,” Williamson said.
The Rays’ pitching staff navigated the game by committee. Opener Casey Legumina handled the first 1 2/3 innings, allowing one run on two hits while throwing 28 pitches. Left-hander Ian Seymour logged 3 1/3 innings in the bulk role, striking out three and working through a high-leverage threat in the fifth. Kevin Kelly then fired two scoreless innings to keep the game knotted until the offense broke through. “[Kevin Kelly] came in, kind of quieted – Anaheim really swung the bats well all series and [he] threw up some zeros,” Cash said.
The late cushion proved necessary when reliever Craig Kimbrel loaded the bases in the bottom of the eighth, hitting a batter and issuing two walks with one out. Garrett Cleavinger entered and struck out pinch-hitters Trey Mancini and Oswald Peraza in succession to strand the bases, before Bryan Baker closed out the ninth. Cash praised the relief work: “Cleve came in and got two huge strikeouts for us, and then handed it to Baker to finish it off.”
“We’ll take a win however we can get it after the first two games here,” Cash said. “Really pleased top to bottom of the lineup.” Mullins called the victory “big” for a club looking to build consistency. “We’ve [been] going back and forth with getting some good runs going, getting some good stretches going, and then cutting ourselves short a little bit. So one step forward each day, [and we’ll] take it into L.A.”