Junior Caminero Makes Home Run History in Rays' 7-2 Win Over Cardinals

TAMPA, Fla. — Well, that was worth the wait.

After sitting through a 4-hour, 25-minute rain delay on Sunday at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa — the longest home rain delay in team history — they Rays beat the St. Louis Cardinals 7-2 to take the interleague series.

Starter Ryan Pepiot was great, allowing just one run over five scoreless innings, and the bullpen did its job from there to close it out.

But the star of the day was third baseman Junior Caminero, who made history in the fifth inning with a grand slam. It was his 37th home run of the year, the most ever by an American League player in their year-21 season. Caminero, who turned 22 on July 5, broke the record previously held by Alex Rodriguez, who hit 36 in 1996 during his 21-year-old season.

“When the ball comes off his bat, it sounds different,” Pepiot said. “He's a special player. We all came into the season joking with him about 30 [home runs], and now he’s on the cusp of 40.

"He’s very humble. He works hard. He’s talented, but he also has that grind to get better. You can’t ask for anything more than that.”

Caminero's blast broke open an early pitcher's duel after the long delay. Pepiot was terrific, allowing just one hit and a walk, but the Rays also had a hard time figuring out Matthew Liberatore, a former Rays first-round pick who was traded for Randy Arozarena in 2020. Through his first 11 outs, the Rays had mustered only an infield hit by Christopher Morel and a slap hit to left by Chandler Simpson in the third.

Morel gave the Rays a 1-0 lead in the fourth with a two-out solo home run, his 10th of the year. And then Liberatore lost it in the fifth, walking three batters, and was replaced by Matt Svanson with one out.

But on Svanson's first pitch, a fastball right down the middle, Caminero smashed it deep over the wall in left-center, traveling 381 feet. Svanson had gone 15 2/3 innings without allowing a run before that pitch, the longest streak in the majors for a reliever.

It was Caminero's second grand slam of the year. The first came in Toronto on May 13. It was also his 10th home run in August, making him just one of eight Rays players ever to reach double-digits in a month.

The 37 homers also tied Albert Pujols — Caminero's hero from his native Dominican Republic — for the most by a Dominican player in year 21.

“I’m very happy. It’s a very good thing. I’m very excited,” Caminero said through team interpreter Eddie Rodriguez. “You guys are seeing all the work that I put in. And every time I come talk to you guys I talk about that, and I’m very proud of that. I’m excited to be accompanying him.”

The Rays added insurance runs in the seventh when Chander Simpson tripled off the wall in center field, driving in two runs. It was his second multi-RBI game, with first coming last weekend in San Francisco. He had two hits in the game, and has hit safely in 12 of his past 13 starts. He's had a .396 average during that run.

This was Pepiot's second straight start where he pitched five scoreless innings to start the game. Last Sunday, things went awry in San Francisco, but this time manager Kevin Cash thought he'd thrown enough, especially with a five-run lead.

Edwin Uceta pitched a scoreless sixth, Mason Montgomery got two outs in the seventh and then Brian Van Belle, who came over in the Zack Littell trade, made his MLB debut and got the final seven outs for the win. The Rays are now 63-67.

“They are looking out for me, and that's something that I’m very happy about, because it just means they care about me,” said Pepiot, who's already thrown 153 innings, 23 more than his career high a year ago.

“It sucks, because the competitor I am, I want to stay out there as long as I can. I was efficient (Sunday), and it could easily been seven (innings), eight maybe. But it’s also, I’m 28. I have multiple years left to play here, and I’m excited for that.”

The Rays now hit the road for a week, starting in Cleveland on Monday night where Ian Seymour will get his first MLB start. Shane Baz and Drew Rasmussen will start the other two games, and then they head to Washington for a weekend series with the Nationals.

The Rays are still 6.5 games behind the Seattle Mariners for the final wild-card spot in the American League, but these next 10 days are huge if they want to make a run at the postseason. The Guardians (64-65) are one of four teams ahead of them, and the Mariners come to Tampa for a critical series on Sept. 1-3.

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