Rays Get Massive Contributions in 5-4 Win Over Angels
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The Tampa Bay Rays can take a breath after securing a series victory over the Los Angeles Angels with a 5-4 win on Wednesday.
It’s Tampa Bay’s first series win after losing four straight. It also places the Rays in sixth place in the American League wild-card standings and 4.5 games behind the New York Yankees for the final spot.
It was all hands on deck for the Rays in the series finale, as big-time contributions came from both sides of the ball.
Caminero and Fortes hit homers
Rays All-Star third baseman Junior Caminero wasted no time putting his team on the board first when he drilled his 29th home run of the season 437 feet to left-center field off Los Angeles lefty Tyler Anderson to give the Rays a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning. It is the longest homer of Caminero’s career, and it gave him his career 100th RBI.
Catcher Nick Fortes, whom the Rays acquired before the July 31 trade deadline, joined in on the deep ball action with a 391-foot solo shot to left-center in the second inning, giving him his first home run in a Rays uniform and his third of the season.
Caminero scorched another 404-foot homer to center field in the top of the third inning to reach 30 home runs on the season and give the Rays a commanding 4-0 lead early.
Junior Caminero AGAIN!
— MLB (@MLB) August 6, 2025
2 HR today, 30 HR on the season! pic.twitter.com/DuITPheb36
“I’m pretty impressed with everything Junior does,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said after the win. “To be at his age, the quality of the at-bat that you get, the power that he shows, he’s doing a lot of things to help us win, and I continue to be impressed with the work that he puts in and the really good results that he gets.”
Caminero’s 30 home runs rank sixth in Major League Baseball and second among third basemen behind Seattle’s Eugenio Suarez (37). He joins Juan Soto (2019) and Albert Pujols (2001) as the third Dominican-born player to hit 30 homers in his age 21 or younger season (age as of June 30), according to Rays PR.
“It feels great,” Caminero said. “We still have some time left, so we just have to continue to play very good ball.”
Morel comes in clutch
After the Angels pounded right-hander Shane Baz with a four-run third inning to tie the game, the Rays needed an answer offensively. After striking out in his first six plate appearances in the series, designated hitter Christopher Morel answered the call.
Morel led off the top of the seventh inning with a 424-foot solo shot to left to snap the 4-4 tie and recapture the lead for Tampa Bay. The blast is Morel’s eighth of the season and his first since July 1.
TBR - Christopher Morel Solo HR (8)
— MLB Home Runs🚀 (@MLBHRs_) August 6, 2025
📏 Distance: 424 ft
💨 EV: 110.5 mph
📐 LA: 26°
⚾️ 91.4 mph cutter (LAA - RHP Ryan Zeferjahn)
🏟️ Would be out in 30/30 MLB parks
TBR (5) @ LAA (4)
🔺 7th#RaysUp pic.twitter.com/1G5JrgMGFN
Caminero ecstatically greeted Morel at the dugout, sending a message to the 26-year-old.
“I told him that I want to see the Morel that was with the Cubs,” Caminero said. “I have a lot of confidence in him. He has a lot of talent.”
“Things have not gone his way, but he picked us up in such a huge way,” Cash added.
Big-time bullpen performance
After Baz exited with a final line of nine strikeouts, five hits, four earned runs and two walks in four innings of work, the Rays turned to their bullpen in the bottom of the fifth inning.
Relief pitching hasn’t been a strong suit for Tampa Bay as of late, but a strong performance, highlighted by the heroics of deadline acquisition Griffin Jax, played a vital role in staving off the Angels' offense.
After Edwin Uceta, Garrett Cleavinger and Bryan Baker combined for three innings of no-hit baseball, it was Jax’s turn to take the mound with a one-run lead to protect in the bottom of the eighth.
It didn’t take long for Jax to end up in a jam.
Los Angeles designated hitter Mike Trout reached on an infield single. Subsequently, Jax walked Taylor Ward before catcher’s interference by Fortes loaded the bases with no outs.
Then, Jax struck out the next three batters to get out of the inning and stop the Angels.
“Things were not going our way, and certainly not Griff’s way,” Cash said. “But, man, he took a deep breath and just executed pitch by pitch to navigate through that inning.”
“I’m not trying to put myself in that spot, but to be able to work out of that gives me a lot of confidence,” Jax added. “I know that I got some pretty good stuff.”
Rays closer Pete Fairbanks entered in the top of the ninth, putting the Angels down in 1-2-3 fashion to seal the deal.
With nine games remaining in a 12-game West Coast trip, the Rays (57-59, fourth in the AL East) must remain locked in if they want to have a chance at the postseason. Tampa Bay will enjoy an off day before traveling to Seattle to kick off a three-game series against the Mariners on Friday at 9:40 p.m. ET. The Mariners entered their home game Wednesday night against the Chicago White Sox in second place in the AL West and second in the wild-card standings.
“Every win, they all count the same,” Cash said. “But every win matters right now, moving forward with where we’ve kind of put ourselves in the standings.”
Related stories on Rays baseball
- WATCH: RAYS' CAMINERO GOES DEEP: Tampa Bay Rays All-Star third baseman Junior Caminero changed his fortunes against left-handed pitching in a 5-4 win against the Los Angeles Angels on Wednesday. CLICK HERE
- B-LOWE BLASTS: The All-Star Tampa Bay second baseman Brandon Lowe continues to show the baseball world how effective he is with a bat in his hands. CLICK HERE
- RAYS 2025 SCHEDULE: Here is the complete 2025 Tampa Bay Rays schedule, with dates, locations, game times and results in real time. CLICK HERE
Don Strouble is a sports journalist who covers Tampa Bay Rays baseball and other sports for the ‘’On SI’’ network. He is a Northeast Ohio native and currently lives in Orlando, Fla.
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